Another Trip to E B Forsythe NWR: Skimmers and more Terns.
Jun 29, 2014 19:06:47 #
Another trip to Forsythe Wildlife refuge gave me the opportunity to shoot the Forster's Terns again and some very cooperative Black Skimmers. For those unfamiliar with Skimmers, they fly very low with their lower mandible in the water. When they contact a small fish, the mandibles snap together trapping it. They then swallow it on the wing. I wanted to give a sense of motion to some of the Skimmer pictures so I started shooting at a low shutter speed (1/125) and concentrated on using good panning technique. Although I think I was successful, my hit rate was very low. I probably could have increased the shutter speed to say 1/250 and gotten a few more that didn't show as much camera movement in the bird. All photos were taken with my 70-200mm f/4L lens. Enjoy!
Forster's Tern banking.
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Forster's Tern with Atlantic City in the background.
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Black Skimmer.
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Skimmer at 1/125 second.
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Skimmer at 1/125 second.
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Jun 30, 2014 06:16:49 #
Jun 30, 2014 09:22:01 #
This is a great series and I like it that you gave an explanation. Very informative. Also..I do like the sense of motion that you captured on the water.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Jun 30, 2014 12:03:25 #
Jun 30, 2014 13:52:03 #
Very nice shots and the information on panning is helpful. Since this is all fairly new to me and most of my birds are perched, I'd kind of forgotten about panning. Many thanks.
Jun 30, 2014 14:46:29 #
Thanks to all of you for the kind words!
Perhaps I might add a few words about panning technique for birds in flight...at least as it pertains to the above examples.
Typical handheld panning technique as it applies to subjects such as runners, cyclists or vehicles that are moving horizontally at a steady rate of speed consists of pressing the camera tight to the face, keeping the elbows in tight to the body and using the torso to pan smoothly with the subject.
Panning with a bird in flight that is moving in arcs or changing direction or speed is quite a bit more of a challenge. You can not keep your arms tight to your body and follow a bird that is going up above your head. You still need to keep the camera tight to your face and you still need to use the torso as much as possible but the arms must be kept free of the body so that you can move your head up and down with everything still working as a unit and as smoothly as possible. The key, of course, is practice. Every chance I get to shoot Swallows, Gulls and Terns I practice. When I was shooting the Terns in this posting, I took about 1500 shots of them and deleted most of them. I was concentrating on learning what the patterns were. Where was the sun? When were they most likely to be coming towards me or at least flying parallel to me? Were there points where they were nearly motionless? On this particular day, the Terns were skimming the water while flying away from me but that meant that they had to fly towards me and then turn away and swoop down towards the water. It was just before the point of the turn away from me that they were facing me in good light and had little relative motion. Perfect time to shoot! The only problem is that you can not predict the exact place and time of that turn. You need to follow the bird with your panning technique and keep it in the viewfinder and in focus and be ready to shoot when the position is right.
The Black Skimmers present their own difficulties. They move at a predictable rate of speed and in a straight line but that line is not always level and horizontal. These birds were coming in at any angle. Sometimes they came close. Generally, you could pick them up in the viewfinder before they were close enough to photograph and begin tracking and get focus acquisition. With the slow shutter speed ones, the smoothness of my panning technique was the key thing I worked on. I learned that 1/125 was perhaps too slow as my "hit" rate was low. I wanted the bird's head and eye in focus without movement blur and I probably should have been up at 1/250 or perhaps a little more. Of course, I still want the creamy motion blur of the water so I will have to experiment to see how fast I can set the shutter speed and still get the effect I was after.
All of these shots were taken with my 70-200 f/4L NON IS lens. Those of you who are always looking for longer and longer lenses should know that my 500mm was useless here! The birds were often within 10 feet of my position! The closer they are the faster their relative motion and it was a blessing that that lens is quite light as it made it much easier to move it quickly around.
Any and all comments, tips and techniques you use are welcome. Please post photos, too!
Perhaps I might add a few words about panning technique for birds in flight...at least as it pertains to the above examples.
Typical handheld panning technique as it applies to subjects such as runners, cyclists or vehicles that are moving horizontally at a steady rate of speed consists of pressing the camera tight to the face, keeping the elbows in tight to the body and using the torso to pan smoothly with the subject.
Panning with a bird in flight that is moving in arcs or changing direction or speed is quite a bit more of a challenge. You can not keep your arms tight to your body and follow a bird that is going up above your head. You still need to keep the camera tight to your face and you still need to use the torso as much as possible but the arms must be kept free of the body so that you can move your head up and down with everything still working as a unit and as smoothly as possible. The key, of course, is practice. Every chance I get to shoot Swallows, Gulls and Terns I practice. When I was shooting the Terns in this posting, I took about 1500 shots of them and deleted most of them. I was concentrating on learning what the patterns were. Where was the sun? When were they most likely to be coming towards me or at least flying parallel to me? Were there points where they were nearly motionless? On this particular day, the Terns were skimming the water while flying away from me but that meant that they had to fly towards me and then turn away and swoop down towards the water. It was just before the point of the turn away from me that they were facing me in good light and had little relative motion. Perfect time to shoot! The only problem is that you can not predict the exact place and time of that turn. You need to follow the bird with your panning technique and keep it in the viewfinder and in focus and be ready to shoot when the position is right.
The Black Skimmers present their own difficulties. They move at a predictable rate of speed and in a straight line but that line is not always level and horizontal. These birds were coming in at any angle. Sometimes they came close. Generally, you could pick them up in the viewfinder before they were close enough to photograph and begin tracking and get focus acquisition. With the slow shutter speed ones, the smoothness of my panning technique was the key thing I worked on. I learned that 1/125 was perhaps too slow as my "hit" rate was low. I wanted the bird's head and eye in focus without movement blur and I probably should have been up at 1/250 or perhaps a little more. Of course, I still want the creamy motion blur of the water so I will have to experiment to see how fast I can set the shutter speed and still get the effect I was after.
All of these shots were taken with my 70-200 f/4L NON IS lens. Those of you who are always looking for longer and longer lenses should know that my 500mm was useless here! The birds were often within 10 feet of my position! The closer they are the faster their relative motion and it was a blessing that that lens is quite light as it made it much easier to move it quickly around.
Any and all comments, tips and techniques you use are welcome. Please post photos, too!
Jul 3, 2014 05:53:42 #
Your panning technique info and "related" information concerning shorebird flight behavior is particularly appreciated, Ed.
The black skimmers, along with several other shorebird species, quickly remind me that I only enjoy "rookie" photog status in their world.
The black skimmers, along with several other shorebird species, quickly remind me that I only enjoy "rookie" photog status in their world.
Jul 16, 2014 23:21:55 #
Wow Ed, just Wow! Great panning shots and thanks for sharing your techniques.
Jul 22, 2014 08:09:11 #
oldmalky
Loc: West Midlands,England.
Thanks for the info Ed, already tried your tips on iso (800)with swans geese and ducks and did quite well my panning needs work as i was in front and behind the subject in my burst session but when i had it right it was good, thankyou.
Jul 22, 2014 08:54:09 #
oldmalky wrote:
Thanks for the info Ed, already tried your tips on iso (800)with swans geese and ducks and did quite well my panning needs work as i was in front and behind the subject in my burst session but when i had it right it was good, thankyou.
Well then post some of them!
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