Birds in flight: In trying to shoot a Red-tailed hawk or vulture I can not get the underside of the bird’s colors. The head is focused and wing span ok but again underside is usually...

SENG

In trying to shoot a Red-tailed hawk or vulture I can not get the underside of the bird’s colors. The head is focused and wing span ok but again underside is usually dark and lacking detail. Suggestions for adjustments to settings. My shutter is usually around around 1/2000 to 1/2500. I have a 300mm lens

Fotoartist Loc: Detroit, Michigan

Shutters speed is good. Handle it in Post processing. Shoot raw.

davidrb Loc: Half way there on the 45th Parallel

SENG wrote:

In trying to shoot a Red-tailed hawk or vulture I can not get the underside of the bird’s colors. The head is focused and wing span ok but again underside is usually dark and lacking detail. Suggestions for adjustments to settings. My shutter is usually around around 1/2000 to 1/2500. I have a 300mm lens

Equipment is not your problem. You are trying to defy physics. The underside of any bird in flight is heavily shaded, normally. Looking outside the box tells you to find another way to get the breast sunlit. The easiest way to do that is find the bird perched somewhere. This won't get the underside of the wings, but that is very difficult to do. Finding your target bird perched will be a challenge. Good luck.

SuperflyTNT Loc: Manassas VA

You need to dial up some exposure compensation. Add a stop or two. The bright sky is dominating the scene.

Thomas902 Loc: Washington DC

"...Handle it in Post processing. Shoot raw..." SOP by Fotoartist

That said you are shooting with a Nikon D500 which doesn't have outstanding dynamic range...
In fact it is the only camera I ever sent back to B&H owing to it's miserable image quality compared to my D7200 and D810. While the D500 has fabulous AF and an exceptional frame rate it's DxO mark Score quickly shows it's not capable of high dynamic range...

https://www.dxomark.com/Cameras/Compare/Side-by-side/Nikon-D500-versus-Nikon-D810___1061_963

I decided on a Nikon D810 instead since it's dynamic range score was a HUGE advantage...
Nikon D500 = 1380 verses Nikon D810 = 2853

No contest...

Hope this helps...
All the best on your journey SENG

SENG

Thank you all for your insight and advice. I appreciate you time and thoughts.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

SENG wrote:

In trying to shoot a Red-tailed hawk or vulture I can not get the underside of the bird’s colors. The head is focused and wing span ok but again underside is usually dark and lacking detail. Suggestions for adjustments to settings. My shutter is usually around around 1/2000 to 1/2500. I have a 300mm lens

Shoot on a full frame camera at LOW ISO and overexpose SLIGHTLY.....dial in + EC or shoot fully manual....lighten in post ...shoot raw if you dare.
.

hdfilmnoir Loc: New Mexico

On my Canon I try and use the dynamic(iso 200) to get detail under the body and wings. Keep on shooting!

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

SENG wrote:

In trying to shoot a Red-tailed hawk or vulture I can not get the underside of the bird’s colors. The head is focused and wing span ok but again underside is usually dark and lacking detail. Suggestions for adjustments to settings. My shutter is usually around around 1/2000 to 1/2500. I have a 300mm lens

Hi. I have about 1800 decent bird shots, in flight and otherwise and many of them include the underside of the bird and show fine detail. I use a D500 (and I do agree with the person who said the low light ability on the D500 is not good), and a Nikon 200-500 or Nikon 500PF lens. Shutter speed is about getting the bird in focus, your problem is incorrect exposure and most likely expecting too much in adverse situations. You need to learn about light and how it hits the animal. It is, in many cases, "all about the light." Aperture does affect your exposure and you don't state what aperture you normally use. A full frame camera has a sensor that captures light better so you might use that if you have one. I normally set my aperture to f/5.6, which allows for good focus and lets in a good degree of light. Put your focus point on the bird and use plus exposure compensation if needed, correct the sky in post. Photography is about making choices and that includes in exposure settings. I can post some of my shots in your link if you want to see them.

SENG

Thank you for help. I would certainly like to see some of your photos. I will only view them and nothing else.
SENG

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

imagemeister wrote:

Shoot on a full frame camera at LOW ISO and overexpose SLIGHTLY.....dial in + EC or shoot fully manual....lighten in post ...shoot raw if you dare.
.

Are you heavily cropping ?? - ALSO ?

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

SENG wrote:

Thank you for help. I would certainly like to see some of your photos. I will only view them and nothing else.
SENG

Bird in flight photography is difficult for many reasons. Oftentimes you will need to lift shadows and do some other things in post to get the image the way you want. If you shoot JPEG this may be more difficult as the file will not allow as much processing as a RAW file will; the JPEG is already processed in camera but you can lighten it or lift shadows to some degree, but not like you can in a RAW file. I've used sandhill cranes and a duck as an example, since it seems I get a lot more underside shots of them, to show you that it can be done, but it does take practice, both in shooting and in processing. Pay attention to the light next time you are out photographing birds and position yourself in the best place possible to get the light on the bird. Focus/expose directly on the bird. You can work with the sky a bit in processing, but again, RAW works much better for this type of photography. In a perfect setting a JPEG is fine, but all too often in wildlife "perfect" is not to be found.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Post an example so we all can see your results, be sure to store the JPEG file.

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

CHG_CANON wrote:

Post an example so we all can see your results, be sure to store the JPEG file.

I don't think I want to do that, just wanted the OP to see that it can be done. Thanks for your advice anyway.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

via the lens wrote:

I don't think I want to do that, just wanted the OP to see that it can be done. Thanks for your advice anyway.

I'm not responding to help you. The OP asked for help by describing their problem, where it will be both more effective and efficient to see their images, rather than someone else's images, to provide actionable feedback specific to their camera, lens and shooting situation.