Steve V Loc: New Jersey

I have been struggling to get good BIF shots. Kind of hit or miss as I work on focus and settings. I also don't have much reach, 70-300. But I did get in some shots on the beach. Much easier there as it is brighter and much easier to shoot in the open. I am reading thru some posts on here to get better at this. Anyway here are a couple from the other day. All comments and advice appreciated.

(Download)


(Download)


(Download)

kpmac Loc: Ragley, La

Keep at it, Steve. Your focus is a little soft but not bad. I would suggest using a wider aperture to blur your backgrounds. Are you using back button focus? Your D750 is a very good camera and you'll get good at flying birds the more you shoot them.

Steve V Loc: New Jersey

Thanks!

ImageCreator Loc: Northern California

#3 is your best image. Why? The background. Avoid sky and plain backgrounds as everybody does them and they are boring.

J-SPEIGHT Loc: Akron, Ohio

Steve V Loc: New Jersey

Thanks! Good point and I agree. Just happy to get them in the frame once and a while.

ClarkJohnson Loc: Fort Myers, FL and Cohasset, MA

Steve Perry just did a video on BIF that you could check out. It covers almost all aspects of this type of photography.

Steve V Loc: New Jersey

Will do. Thanks!

JeffDavidson Loc: Originally Detroit Now Los Angeles

Very nice.

Steve V Loc: New Jersey

Thank you!

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

Actually, your framing of the subject is good. You don't state your camera settings though, which would be helpful to those of us who might give advice. I shoot BIF fairly successfully now and most often my settings on my Nikon D500 (which has an incredible buffer capability) are aperture at f/5.6, allows for the sharpness of the subject but the blurring of the background to some degree, a shutter speed of a minimum of 1/1500 although this does depend on the speed of the bird (bigger birds are slower and smaller birds much faster--hummers take about 1/2500 of a second at minimum) and I often shoot at a much higher shutter speed, perhaps around 1/2500 or more. I then set the ISO as needed to maintain these settings, which can end up with a very high ISO so you need to know how high of an ISO your camera will take a shot at before it creates a noise problem. I'd say watch the birds for awhile and see what their pattern is, then set up somewhere to get the shot you want and preset your camera as much as possible. Practice doing this and you'll learn more about needed shutter speeds. Find the bird in the sky and follow it through the sky, shoot multiple shots as birds do as many odd and funny things as people do when we take photos of them.

Steve V Loc: New Jersey

Thanks viewing and also for your detailed response. It was exactly what I was hoping for. I am at the beach as I type this and shot an Osprey fishing earlier. Didn’t do to well, I think I have one good capture out of a dozen. When he comes back I will be using your tips. What focus mode do you typically use?

I will put up the settings next post.

Again thanks for the help.

Steve

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

Hi Steve, I've used various focus modes. I know some people like group. Today I used S(ingle focus spot) and 25 focus points, I shoot Nikon. I always shoot in continuous mode. Do check out the Steve Perry info. I've shot with him twice now in Costa Rica and his information will help you a lot. It's available in an E-version. I would guess you are not shooting fast enough, up your shutter speed and see if that helps. It does take a while to learn fast-moving action in flight. Being ready ahead of times for birds can help a lot. I just did that this morning with the hummingbirds at my feeder (wish I were at the beach!). I set up the camera settings and focused on the edge of the feeder then waited, snapping off shots as the bird approached and left. Practice! Also, you can experiment with shooting with auto ISO, which can be risky at times. This morning I shot with a set ISO and let the shutter speed move and that seemed to work much better for the hummers.

Steve V Loc: New Jersey

Thanks for all the great tips.i will check out Steve Perry ( other people have mentioned him ). I viewed your hummers and they were great. I am at Island Beach State Park here in NJ in my quarantine vehicle. Forgot my laptop so if I get something good I will post it Monday.

(Download)

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

Lucky you! Very cool looking rig.