Great White Pelican

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Nitin,
How much crop is this? The eye contact is nice. The details in the pelican is good. Some more space at the bottom and left would have been better.

For flight: You have to notice from which direction the birds are flying and accordingly position yourself. Acquiring focus becomes easier if you prefocus your lens at the spot the bird is going to pass or land. That reduces the lens hunting for focus. After you acquire focus follow the bird and click where the background and eye contact is optimal.

Too often, I find photographers firing away even though the bird would have flown past the photographer. This happens because people acquire the focus late and when the bird has flown past the photographer, the photographer doesn't feel like giving up. :-)

Focus point: The central focus point is often the fastest in acquiring focus. So when you are trying to focus a bird in flight, it becomes easier to place the central AF point on the body of the bird and acquire focus and then allow other AF points to pick up the focus and click.

Shutter Speed: You need a fast shutter speed to freeze motion. The wing beats of a large bird is slower and you can use a relatively slower shutter speed vis-a-vis smaller birds.

You should also check the tutorial regarding sharpness. http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=268

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Dr. Kalpamoi Kakati]

Hi Sabyasachi,
Thanks for those excellent tips for bird in flight photography.Few points I want to ask to clarify my doubts -first,when you are shooting a bird against the clear sky where do you get the points to prefocus,
Second,what should be EC when shooting a bird against the clear sky,
third, what should be your AF modes,one shot,AI or AI servo,
Fourth,How to get Panning effect at such a fast shutter speed,
And of course most important question for me -which is the best lens for these kind of shots?

Regards
Kalpa

Nitin,
How much crop is this? The eye contact is nice. The details in the pelican is good. Some more space at the bottom and left would have been better.

For flight: You have to notice from which direction the birds are flying and accordingly position yourself. Acquiring focus becomes easier if you prefocus your lens at the spot the bird is going to pass or land. That reduces the lens hunting for focus. After you acquire focus follow the bird and click where the background and eye contact is optimal.

Too often, I find photographers firing away even though the bird would have flown past the photographer. This happens because people acquire the focus late and when the bird has flown past the photographer, the photographer doesn't feel like giving up. :-)

Focus point: The central focus point is often the fastest in acquiring focus. So when you are trying to focus a bird in flight, it becomes easier to place the central AF point on the body of the bird and acquire focus and then allow other AF points to pick up the focus and click.

Shutter Speed: You need a fast shutter speed to freeze motion. The wing beats of a large bird is slower and you can use a relatively slower shutter speed vis-a-vis smaller birds.

You should also check the tutorial regarding sharpness. http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=268

Cheers,
Sabyasachi