The WRONG way to photograph birds in flight!
Making do with the "wrong" lens...
One day I was walking around with only my crop sensor Nikon DSLR and a 50mm prime lens. In my opinion, this is a bit tight as a general walk-around lens on a crop sensor camera, being the equivalent of a 75mm, and it's certainly not the ideal gear for capturing birds in flight... but there I was in the park and people were feeding the birds, drawing in swarms of ducks and geese. I had to at least try for some shots!
You can get pretty close to the birds in the park because they're about half tame. I wanted some in flight shots so I set the shutter speed to 1/1250 seconds. (A little faster like 1/1600 or 1/2000 would freeze the bird's wings completely but let in less light, and I don't mind a bit of motion in the wing tips in any case.)
It wasn't all that bright out, so I opened the aperture all the way to f/1.8. This creates a shallow depth of field, and the background softens or blurs a bit.
The last thing to consider was the ISO, and I decided to use auto ISO with a maximium of 1000. I'm not comfortable going much higher on this camera.
In post processing I have cropped these shots quite a bit... too much to make good prints larger than 8" x 10", but good enough for use on the web. As I've said, this is the wrong gear and the wrong way to do it, but here is an even more ridiculous example...
This last shot was captured with the same Nikon D7100, but this time I had only a 24mm prime lens with me. So why am I telling you all this? Perhaps it's just a reminder to remember your long lens, but if you don't have it, don't be afraid to push a little with the "wrong" equipment when the need arises. Thoughts or questions? Let me know in the comments, and thanks for reading!
Thank you for a detail narration. Really helped me understand a lot :) I have 2 zoom in lenses and hoping to get a prime lens and a wide angle lens soon hahaha
Wow, fantastic shots and editing!
Thanks very much!
Wow these shots look amazing and so dynamic!!!! I wish I could catch some animals in action some time ....
GREAT JOB anyways :D
Thanks so much for the nice comment! The way to get better is just practice. When I take photos of birds at least 95% will be deleted immediately.
Ok so the main thing is to make a loooot of photos and afterwards decide the best one? Thank you :D
Posting a "follow me" ad as a comment and then upvoting your own comment... very spammy behaviour
I like it
Thank you.
Those look amazing. Great shots. Not a photographer myself but definitely can appreciate the skill and complexity level.
Thank you, I appreciate your kind remarks!
the color on the duck are very nice. and like the "long" closes time with
special focus on the wings.
you say wrong gear the rest of us is quite envious of what you did with "wrong" Equipment
Thank you very much!
Thanks for your advices @keithboone, yesterday I tried to take shots of doves at flight, when my acquaintanсe let them to fly after long break during winter time, so I understood that I need to try another lens which I forgot at home. I hope, after reading your post, next time I'll take good shots of flying doves and then I'll can share them with you!
Thank you, I'd like to see those shots when you make them!
Ok, I'll keep it in my mind and let you know, when I'll catch them in my lens!
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