Suddenly, without warning, Roger N. Clark (change username to rnclark)
exclaimed (03-Apr-07 1:42 PM):
Ken Lucke wrote:
In article , jmc
wrote:


I've finally purchased a longer lens for my XTi - the Canon 70-300mm
DO IS ISM. Nice lens, the shorter physical length is a lot more
stable in my small hands. I have been getting some very good
pictures with this lens, so I'm quite happy with it, despite the high
cost.

I've been practicing taking pictures of birds in flight - raptors,
for the most part.

Not surprisingly, all of the ones taken with the sky as background,
came out with very dark birds. Also, for non-soaring birds, I'm
finding it very hard to follow them, and get decent pictures.

Is there a tutorial on the 'net somewheres that'll help me learn how
to take better bird action photos? How much do I compensate when the
bird is silhouetted against the sky?


Try [some combination of] this: Make sure you are in evaluative
metering, using only one (usually the center) auto-focusing point, and
over-expose by a stop or so using your exposure compensation. Or set
to continuous shooting, set to auto-bracket by a stop or so, and shoot
three-shot bursts (you have to continue to follow through with the bird
even though the shutter may be blocking your viewfinder between
shots). You may have to boost the ISO to bring your shutter speed back
up if it
becomes too slow. Also, (you probably realize this, but...) try get
into a position that you can shoot the birds when the sun is at your
back, so it's highlighting the birds, rather than cross- or back-
lighting them.

I'll describe how I do things differently (this is my
strategy; yours make work best for you).

When following moving animals (birds or 4-legged critters)
the mere fact they are moving often means the light is changing.
Thus I do not like manual. I would rather use exposure compensation
to adapt to the situation. An example is an animal moving
between shade and sun, another is rising or setting sun where
light levels are changing fast.

Second, auto-bracketing, assuming 3 shots means only one is correctly
exposed. That means you have 2/3 chance of missing the peak
action.

Autofocus point should be set on the animals eye(s), not necessarily
the center (and in my style rarely the center) autofocus point.
(Exception: f/8 on pro bodies only focuses on the center AF point,
except maybe the new 1D Mark III--I hate this limitation.)
Center AF often means in my experience non-ideal bull's eye
composition, or poor composition requiring the center focus on the
eye and cutting off feet, wings, or tail (of course this depends
on how much the subject fills the frame).

My strategy for action wildlife photography:
AI servo mode, continuous shooting, IS on (even on a tripod, mode 1 IS).
Fastest shutter speed; I usually shoot wide open, unless light
is really bright, which is rare. It is rare for me as I usually
shoot near sunrise or sunset when light levels are lower.

I usually try and get a few frames in the environment and check
the histogram so I know how the meter is responding, then I adjust
exposure compensation as needed. During action, I follow
the subject, constantly shifting the AF point to keep a good
composition, and adjust exposure compensation as needed
and keeping the AF point on the eye(s).
I also keep monitoring the exposure time and adjust ISO
up or down as light levels rise or fall. I use the lowest
ISO that the conditions will allow. You need to know
your camera well in order to do this in a split second,
never removing your eye from the viewfinder while following
the action.

I also don't agree with the "need" to have the sun behind you.
While this is a fine strategy in many situations, lighting
can be more dramatic and show texture better when the sun is
not directly behind you. It does become more of a challenge
to keep the eyes well lit if the sun is not behind you,
but I feel many images are more interesting this way.

One rule I try to maintain (and you will see a common theme
in my galleries): nice view of the eyes and the eyes must be
in focus. The pupil of the eye should be clearly visible in the
full resolution image (unless a big flock of birds that
are too distant).

Other guides: the photo usually has more impact if the animal
is moving toward you. For birds in flight, this means the
bird's near wing is behind the body center. Also, the head
should be directed more toward you than away.

Isolation of the subject is usually best. That means out-of-focus
background, and few enough animals (like one or two).
As animal count goes up, the image just looks cluttered until
the animal count gets huge, like hundreds.

Finally, there are exceptions to all rules.

Examples:
No exposure compensation needed, AF on bird's eyes, and
a good example of the impact of the animal directing its
vision towards the camera:
http://www.clarkvision.com/galleries...8715b-700.html


Dark background: needed -0.5 stop compensation:
http://www.clarkvision.com/galleries...107.b-700.html


No exposure compensation, sun 90 degrees away to maximize shadows:
http://www.clarkvision.com/galleries...stall-600.html


A good example of shooting into the sun, when you don't
want the sun behind you (and you don't see the eyes):
http://www.clarkvision.com/galleries...lho.c-600.html


White bird on dark background: I metered the scene before
the bird took off from its nest, so I was ready at meter -0.5 stop:
http://www.clarkvision.com/galleries...ght.f-600.html


Birds with white can be difficult if you don't want to blow
the highlights. On this bald eagle, I took several exposures while
it was sitting, so I knew I needed -1/3 stop for this flight shot:
http://www.clarkvision.com/galleries...717.b-700.html


Example of dramatic side lighting. This Palm-Nut Vulture, Vulturine
Fish-eagle
was photographed at sunrise. Sunrise was to the left, about 90
degrees. I should have used a fill flash, but a little work in
Photoshop on with the shadow/highlight tool compressed the shadows
so they are not too dark.
http://www.clarkvision.com/galleries...7182b-700.html


An exception to some rules: Bird's eye's not only
not seen, you barely see the head, and it is moving away:
http://www.clarkvision.com/galleries...336.b-600.html


Another exception: high animal count, e.g. thousands;
you can't see the eyes:
http://www.clarkvision.com/galleries...504.b-800.html


More dramatic side lighting: these kissing herons at sunset
on their nest had the sun about 90 degrees away.
The background is pine trees in shade, and this was the lest few
seconds of light. The light was changing fast and manual mode
would have missed the exposure. I knew from the previous
minute's worth of images that -1 stop made a perfect exposure.
As the light level fell with the setting sun, exposure compensation
tracked the light perfectly, so when the male bird flew in to the
nest, I was ready. Fortunately, he flew in and did the kiss
in last few seconds of peak sunset light.
http://www.clarkvision.com/galleries...149.f-700.html


Roger

I should snip this, but everything is such great advice, and Roger, your
pictures are just absolutely awesome!

I think your style for the most part might work better for me, 'cept the
shifting autofocus bit. I'm still learning my camera, and definitely
can't manage that without looking. So I've been using the center
autofocus. Good point about the eyes, but for now that's a bit beyond
my skill with moving animals, I'm happy if I can just keep the birdie in
the frame.

Thanks to both of you - I have a couple of methods I can experiment with
now, to see which works best for me.

Guess I'm going to need bigger CF cards if I'm going to use continuous
shooting. Filled up my 2GB pretty fast trying to photograph raptors...

Roger, thanks again for the examples - it's so much better to actually
*see* what you are talking about, and how your techniques relate
directly to photographic results.

::sigh:: I gotta lot to learn...

jmc