New Bird in Flight Photos - Birds of Prey Sanctuary

[Brownbear]

Following are some images captured at a show at a wildlife sanctuary for birds of prey...

Although easier then in the wild because one knows when the birds are about to take flight, it is still challenging simply because they are birds in flight and the flight path is shorter... Anyway its good practice for the day I find a great horned owl or osprey in the wild.

Osprey SS 3200 F4, iso 450, exp bias +.67, matrix metering...

I knew from prior attempts that I needed a faster shutter speed so I sacrificed up DOF so I could use a lower iso.. These birds fly super fast and this is the first time I've managed to capture one in flight.

Image 1




Image 2

2nd image is a little soft, but its my first set so sharing anyway..



Great Horned Owl

Image 3

SS 2000 F7.1 iso 1600 Exp bias +.3, matrix metering



Image 4





Crowds blurred away



I've decided that matrix metering is easier for birds in flight, but that said spot metering works well on black birds if I can manage to do it right.


I would appreciate a critique on Image 1, 3 and 4... Especially on composition, wing position etc... Now that I have posted I can see the noise in the background of the owl shots..

[Digital]

Christina, not having experience with BIF these appear to be really good shots.


Bruce

[Loose Canon]

Hi Christina!

Let me just prelude this by saying I’m not really a big bird guy, so I’ll just bounce a couple of generic ideas off you and let you bird folks do your thang!

And let me prelude that by saying I think these are really good.

#1. The somewhat shallow DoF seems to be showing in the near wing tip. The rest is in good focus. Maybe when shooting into a brighter sky you could afford a bit higher ISO sacrifice for a smaller aperture. The noise wouldn’t be as readily apparent. Good composition from where I’m sitting. The standard (mandatory?) “room in the frame to fly into”. Wing position looks great to me. Nice shot.

#3. With this one and #4 you have already mentioned the noise. It wouldn’t be a huge problem to take care of it in post, but I wonder if you think it is softening the bird some? Have you tried shooting with a little higher exposure and retrieving it in post? In these two, do you prefer the center positioning of the subject opposed to an off-center composition with the “flying into the frame” room?

Both the owl shots have great positioning of the bird to me! There seem to be a couple of errant specks in both that might be best not there. And if these were mine, I would probably try to lose the straps, if not the bands holding them just to see if I liked it better. Nice shots all Christina. I bet that was a fun shoot!

[Brownbear]

Thank you Bruce, as always for your continued encouragement... Yes, I believe I'm finally getting the hang of BIF but of course I still have a lot to learn and work on...

Terry, Thank you so much for taking the time to provide a critique and for sharing some great advice.

1. Yes, I definitely noticed that the shallower DOF showed near the wing tip. And yes, I could've used a higher iso... This is my first osprey in flight and as I failed miserably with the osprey prior to this... ie; either too dark, blurry or too noisy, so I took the safe route... I did not have time to review and adjust my settings but next time around I will use a smaller aperture and a higher iso...

3. Yes, I am not crazy about the softening effect. I have had the trial Topaz Denoise program and I think that the light button would have taken care of the noise in these two images, just fine. I am still learning to use the program and how to use it selectively.

Yes, I've tried exposing to the right, quite a bit lately. However I'm learning that this blows out my skies and water (any background) and I keep going back and forth between exposing for everything the best I can or just the bird... When I expose to the right I don't know how to bring back the background, so when I do this it usually stays white. It is something that I just need to figure out the best balance for, as well as improving my editing skills.

I like centered but I think I prefer off-center with room to fly into the frame, and I simply forgot about it here. Thank you for sharing...

For posting here I kept the straps and cuffs... presenting as photographed but I intend to learn how to erase these types of things, with finesse... I do know how to erase but I still can't do it very well. That said, I'm working on it and if I were to print one of these photos the straps would definitely have to go. But I hope to find a great horned owl or a snowy owl in the wild this winter, and no worries about straps!

I missed the specks... Thank you for pointing these out to me.


Yes, it is always fun photographing wildlife, especially these beautiful birds.

Thank you Terry.

[Shadowman]

Still a difficult shot. Nice images.