Show your Bird Portraits

[serendipidy]

Trying to learn the skill of BIF photography on my 7D and 100-400L or 70-200LII/2.8. Have been practicing on several herons that frequent here. It's a lot harder than I expected. Most of the shots (>90%) are totally worthless OOF blurs Starting to get a few almost acceptable shots which I will post for C&C. For those that are proficient, what settings do you use? Things like (on a 7D) AV or TV mode, what autofocus settings (zone, AF point expansion, etc), metering setting, etc? I try to limit ISO to 400 but that means wide aperture (shallow DOF-blurry) and/or slow shutter speed (again, blurry shots). Maybe I need a 5D3 or 1DX Thanks for any suggestions. Here are some of my better ones from past 2 days.

[CTJohn]

Trying to learn the skill of BIF photography on my 7D and 100-400L or 70-200LII/2.8. Have been practicing on several herons that frequent here. It's a lot harder than I expected. Most of the shots (>90%) are totally worthless OOF blurs Starting to get a few almost acceptable shots which I will post for C&C. For those that are proficient, what settings do you use? Things like (on a 7D) AV or TV mode, what autofocus settings (zone, AF point expansion, etc), metering setting, etc? I try to limit ISO to 400 but that means wide aperture (shallow DOF-blurry) and/or slow shutter speed (again, blurry shots). Maybe I need a 5D3 or 1DX Thanks for any suggestions. Here are some of my better ones from past 2 days.

I use a 7D TV mode,  with shutter speed set to 1/800th or faster and Auto ISO with a limit of 800.  I also use back button focusing in Servo.  I'll usually use evaluative metering, but sometimes switch to partial or spot if there's a lot of contrast in the scene.  I love the 7D's fps capability.  With a fast flying bird, (assuming I can get it in the frame!) I get around half as keepers, and probably 20% I'd consider good.  Agree, it's harder than I thought it would be.

[bjd]

Seven of our thrushes (six of them are being sat on by the mother here).

Cheers Brian

[rpt]

Trying to learn the skill of BIF photography on my 7D and 100-400L or 70-200LII/2.8. Have been practicing on several herons that frequent here. It's a lot harder than I expected. Most of the shots (>90%) are totally worthless OOF blurs Starting to get a few almost acceptable shots which I will post for C&C. For those that are proficient, what settings do you use? Things like (on a 7D) AV or TV mode, what autofocus settings (zone, AF point expansion, etc), metering setting, etc? I try to limit ISO to 400 but that means wide aperture (shallow DOF-blurry) and/or slow shutter speed (again, blurry shots). Maybe I need a 5D3 or 1DX Thanks for any suggestions. Here are some of my better ones from past 2 days.

Ok, one more time. Yes, I posted a long response and the connectivity gods decided my post needed to be rewritten! 

So here goes.

Feb 24 I went to this place that migratory birds come to to get pics of BIF. I have posted pics on the forum. In the two hours I was there, I took 2000 pics. It was a great experience. The birds I photographed in flight were Flamingos, Egrets, Painted Storks, Ibis - including Black Ibis, Sandpipers, Gulls Terns and a few more.

I shot with my 5D3 and 100-400L mostly at 400mm. My settings for the shooting were:
Manual mode, shutter speed 1/800, f6.3, ISO Auto, AF center point with 8 way expansion, first shot shutter priority, subsequent shots focus priority, AF case 1, lens IS was on, focus limiter was on so 6.5m to infinity.

I expected more keepers. By keepers I mean that they are sharp even at 100% view in RAW.

My learning from the analysis I did was:

• The shutter speed should have been in excess of 1/1200 probably around 1/1600 or 1/2000
• The f stop should have been 7.1 or 8 - I intended to set it at 7.1 but obviously I mucked up
• I would have loved to ETTR - I just do not know how to do that for BIF; in M mode one can't set EC; if someone can advise me that would be great
• The card I used was a 400x; note to self - get a 64GB 1000x soon - see the buffer filled up and I got upset - that added to the shake I am sure

You have the 7D and some of these settings will not translate but this is the best I can do.

Hope this helps.

To the Gurus on this site, please advise if you have the time.

Rustom

[florianbieler.de]

Did my first BiF last week, 5D Mark III w/ 70-200 2.8L IS II

[bjd]

Very young Sparrow

Cheers Brian

[fohtohz]

[rpt]

Seven of our thrushes (six of them are being sat on by the mother here).

Cheers Brian

Lovely! Is she nesting inside your house? There seems to be three light sources showing up in her eye and one looks like a fluorescent tube light.

[rpt]

Good lord! Gravity seems to be malfunctioning at that spot.

Lovely picture

[Click]

Good lord! Gravity seems to be malfunctioning at that spot.

Well said 


Nice shot fohtohz. 

[bjd]

Proof that levitation does work. So why do they need wings?
Great capture.
Cheers Brian

[bjd]

Seven of our thrushes (six of them are being sat on by the mother here).

Cheers Brian

Lovely! Is she nesting inside your house? There seems to be three light sources showing up in her eye and one looks like a fluorescent tube light.

In our shed. I had the light on to see if it would help my webcam, it looks down into the nest.
If I go in the shed then she just sits there very still, so I avoid eye contact. Obviously I try to
keep out of the shed, and now all are hatched a lot of time she's not sat on the nest. So we get
along OK.
Cheers Brian

[rpt]

Seven of our thrushes (six of them are being sat on by the mother here).

Cheers Brian

Lovely! Is she nesting inside your house? There seems to be three light sources showing up in her eye and one looks like a fluorescent tube light.

In our shed. I had the light on to see if it would help my webcam, it looks down into the nest.
If I go in the shed then she just sits there very still, so I avoid eye contact. Obviously I try to
keep out of the shed, and now all are hatched a lot of time she's not sat on the nest. So we get
along OK.
Cheers Brian

Fabulous! Sometimes they just know they are safe. I am trying to communicate with the hawk that frequents our garden. Let us see how it goes - so far he lets me talk and hangs around for a while

[fohtohz]

Good lord! Gravity seems to be malfunctioning at that spot.

Well said 


Nice shot fohtohz. 

thank's all :-)

[bjd]

Good lord! Gravity seems to be malfunctioning at that spot.

Well said 


Nice shot fohtohz. 

thank's all :-)

So are they all in focus? Which one did you center on?
Cheers Brian