I don't know how you all do it. I saw a hawk for 2 seconds (Page 5): Above comments are all good. I caught my egret pic (see earlier post) from a tour boat in FL. I had the camera...

PhotoKurtz Loc: Carterville, IL

Above comments are all good. I caught my egret pic (see earlier post) from a tour boat in FL. I had the camera prep'd for lighting and movement. Just freaking lucky to catch the bird taking off and even get him in the frame. Just keep shooting.

vonzip Loc: cape cod

Streets wrote:

I live 2 miles west of the biggest airport in the country, so I just wait for one to land on my backyard fence and fire away with my Sony.

great picture and very sharp

Whateveritakes

Clapperboard wrote:

Galaxy Cat The data you've lost on the cloud ... (show quote)

I use a MacBook Pro and import exclusively into Lightroom. My work flow is that I use the collections to organize my files (the raw files are stored by LR with the record of changes). Production of jpegs is to a program called Mylio, which can read all the LR meta data. Ocasionally, I produce to other files if I want different dpi for printing. I found the MacBook learned my preferences after a few cycles and after that never competed with Iphotos for my jpegs (when I shot those) or raw files. This is not in disagreement with the above reply, but simply notes that the MacBook learns eventually what we do with it.

Acountry330 Loc: Dothan,Ala USA

Shooting birds in flight takes a lot of practice an patience. You can practice on any moving object. When out in the field looking for birds of prey keep your camera n your hands at all times. Happy shooting.

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

GalaxyCat wrote:

I was in the woods, in a park called, "Stanley Ringer Park" (in Boston, Massachusetts, USA) and I saw briefly, a hawk fly by, and I was no where near my camera on a tripod, and I couldn't see where the hawk went. I have to wonder: how on earth do these people on this forum find such fantastic shots! I only saw a hawk for 2 seconds! And I searched and searched; never to see him again. Never mind pointing a camera at it!!! How do you do it?

Someone said "forget the tripod," but I would caution you against simply forgetting it. Use it when you can and hand-hold when you need to. I've photographed hundreds of birds, many of them in-flight and many from a tripod as I cannot hand-hold my Nikon 200-500 and get a sharp shot. I do hand-hold my Nikon 80-400 and can often get a sharp shot with it. I think it probably depends on what quality of shot you want to eventually get. I like to look for shots where the bird is the main subject (so not surrounded by trees, branches, man-made items, etc.) and with some type of action whenever possible, which of course does not always work out. Since everyone else is posting, I'm adding a couple to the pile to show you the possibilities beyond a bird on a perch sitting stationary. Look for action if at all possible and eye contact. Just keep photographing and over time your shots will improve.

Robeng Loc: California

GalaxyCat wrote:

I was in the woods, in a park called, "Stanley Ringer Park" (in Boston, Massachusetts, USA) and I saw briefly, a hawk fly by, and I was no where near my camera on a tripod, and I couldn't see where the hawk went. I have to wonder: how on earth do these people on this forum find such fantastic shots! I only saw a hawk for 2 seconds! And I searched and searched; never to see him again. Never mind pointing a camera at it!!! How do you do it?

Here's a shot for you with 3 birds in flight. It's not hard, but you need to know your camera settings and the subject matter and practice.

Pelicans in flight
Pelicans in flight...

YeloCab1

Right place at the right time works best for me ...

GalaxyCat Loc: Boston, MA

Thank you everyone for your advice. I really appreciate it. I just got an Olympus E-PL1. 12.1 MP (12.1 MegaPixels) mirrorless. It is fully extended and will not retract, but it might still be usable. I bought some 16 GigaByte SD cards, and the camera seems to be taking pictures, I just can't tell if it is focusing okay or not. The manual focus on the lens doesn't move. Like I said, it is fully extended, and will not retract during power down. No manual focus either. I hope I can use it okay.

As far as photographing birds of prey, I understand that I must "Practice, practice, practice." I also must learn their habitats and feeding/nesting areas. I am right next to Stanley Ringer Park, so I will be going there frequently, I hope to get some pictures of some wild life in a neighborhood of Boston: Brighton. There's no town hall for Brighton, it is a neighborhood of Boston.

Clapperboard

GalaxyCat As you've said you just picked up a mirrorless camera I may appear to be a grouse, but check it out for 'shutter delay'. I have no knowledge or experience of the camera you mention. I have had reports from friends that some mirrorless cameras suffer from shutter delay. That is a problem that means there is a delay between when you press the shutter button and when the shutter actually opens. Thus you can miss lots of 'action' shots. A lot of compact or 'point and shoot' cameras tend to have this problem. On Sunday I was taking shots on a quite expensive compact, 18MP, Leica lens etc. but it suffered terribly from the shutter lag affliction.
I only mention this as it is very easy to 'Beat Yourself Up' thinking it is your fault that you are missing the shots.
Patience, Perseverance, Practice, and a camera with no shutter delay is all you need!!!
Very best wishes for great success in your photos.

SpyderJan Loc: New Smyrna Beach. FL

via the lens wrote:

Someone said "forget the tripod," but I ... (show quote)

Very nicely done.

YeloCab1

Another problem I ran into was the "Preview" setting. After I took pictures they would come up on the screen for a second before going back to being ready. I shut it off when I was having problems at a football game and never turned it back on. I'll go through my pictures when I'm ready. There's no real need or benefit in seeing it right after I take it. You can miss a lot in that second delay and if you just took the picture why do you need to see it agin immediatly?

GalaxyCat Loc: Boston, MA

I got my Olympus E-PL1 to retract. I was expecting it to do it automatically. My Sony DSC-V1 Cyber-Shot 5.0 MB camera that I bought in 2002 extends and retracts with an internal motor. I'm reading the manual, and several photography books and videos.