To Christina-Before You Give up

[Shadowman]

Christina,

This is my preferred method of bird photography and it still took at least five attempts to get these, which I still wasn't satisfied with.

f/8, 1/20s, ISO 100, 120mm micro 4/3rd camera.



f/8, 1/50s, ISO100, 70mm micro 4/3rd camera.


Lots of post processing.

[Brownbear]

Thank you, John... Truly appreciated. Your edit is amazing... I should send you some of my purple fringed ducks to tackle

I write, so I already spend too much time on the computer, therefore I don't enjoy editing. I truly appreciate everything I've learned about editing but I hope to only have to edit my photos a little bit.



Please be assured that I have not given up on my birds in flight/action ... I don't give up easily... I just want to be able to take action photos like this guy (and several of the photographers on this site), today, but I've come to realize that it is going to take me a little longer than that.

http://natures-photo-adventures.smug...0667&k=3Hsx7Tg

So I will keep practicing and learning, and posting for feedback here, and one day I hope to post a perfect bird in fight shot!

[NorthernFocus]

I haven't seen previous conversations but I see you live in Vancouver. You have a perfect opportunity for practicing shooting birds in flight. Just find a location on the waterfront where seagulls hang out and you can shoot all day. I start every summer that way to get back in practice after a long winter.

[Shadowman]

Thank you, John... Truly appreciated. Your edit is amazing... I should send you some of my purple fringed ducks to tackle

I write, so I already spend too much time on the computer, therefore I don't enjoy editing. I truly appreciate everything I've learned about editing but I hope to only have to edit my photos a little bit.



Please be assured that I have not given up on my birds in flight/action ... I don't give up easily... I just want to be able to take action photos like this guy (and several of the photographers on this site), today, but I've come to realize that it is going to take me a little longer than that.

http://natures-photo-adventures.smug...0667&k=3Hsx7Tg

So I will keep practicing and learning, and posting for feedback here, and one day I hope to post a perfect bird in fight shot!

You do have a skill for getting the right exposure in your images, with that knowledge you can try different variations on your settings: shutter, ISO, and apeture. Granted, most of the time we are limited with aperture, we can only open up so much depending on the lens we have, and increasing ISO has its limits.

The AF system of your camera and your panning skills will eventually get you closer to your goal, try a somewhat slower subject like a person walking to improve your skills. Then the erratic flight patterns and speed of birds will be less of a challenge. I posted the above images because even though my subjects were pretty much stationary, the only movement was my hands and the wind, i still had problems auto focusing on the birds. Granted, the micro 4/3rds uses a different focusing system., the presumed ease of auto focusing has its limits, why else would they put those screen shots in our camera manuals of difficult to focus subjects.

Keep at it.

[AB26]

Hi Christina,

Birds in action is probably one of the most difficult specialties in Photography. You have chosen to bite off a big chunk of the cake. I can only admire your determination, commitment and courage to do what you are doing.

You should realize that the equipment you are using does not mach up with that of the Photographers you admire. If you were to fit a 600mm prime lens to a Nikon D3x, and you had the time and money and travelled to the locations those Photographers do, you would get there a lot sooner.

My personal opinion is that you should never compare your work to the work of others. Admire their work and learn from them but never compare.

Learning to get the best you can from the equipment you are using should be your first goal. What you are doing with the equipment you are using is amazing. Very few of us will reach the level you have with the equipment you are using.

Realize that the equipment you’ve got has limitations and will limit you as to what shots you can take. If you always want sharp images, it is no use trying to capture an image of a bird under poor light if your camera can only handle ISO 800 with reasonable results and the fastest long lens in your bag is an F5.6.

I have also decided to give "birding" a go. My equipment is limited and I will have to learn what I can do with what I’ve got.

Maybe one day when my ship comes in. You never know.

[Brownbear]

Thank you to all.

Dan, yes I'm practicing on seagulls, pigeons and geese. Every chance I get.

John, great to know that achieving focus on that stationary bird was a challenge. Great tip... practicing on slower moving subjects. Will do!

Andre, great advice. Thank you for the encouragement. I look forward to seeing your bird shots