Practicing Birds In Flight - Seagulls

[FlyingSquirrel]

I've tried to learn BIF shots with my 400mm 5.6L, but never got anything good. The subjects were too small, too fast, too far away, bad light...and that lens is really tough to use in low light. After getting the 500mm f4 IS II, I tried a small amount of BIF shooting on a couple shoots. It was fun, but the results were less than ideal, so I decided I'd like to improve my BIF technique and abilities. I went to the local beach several weeks ago, for some gull action. The light was not great, and I didn't have a lot of time with the gulls because they promptly left after eating all of the bread that some people had tossed to them.

Spotting relatively small, fast moving subjects through a 500mm lens on a 1.6 crop camera is not easy, when you are just starting out. Depending on the distance of the subject, your average field of view there is 5 degrees or less. Since the beach shoot, I've had a few more days of practice at another location, on raptors, and was able to improve my spotting to where I could reasonably consistently get a lock on a flying subject with 500mm + 1.4x + 1.6 crop camera (approx 1120mm equivalent, or 3 degrees angle of view give or take a couple). With more practice, I'm certain I can get much better.

Here are the best shots I got from the beach shoot. Most are cropped quite a bit, and the quality is not as good as I would prefer. But hey, I'm just starting out.

Adjusting angle of flight for the incoming food bonanza




I quite like this "ugly" individual, with the busted lower bill, dirty coloration, and beefy physique.



I like the wing position on this one

[Shadowman]

They look pretty good. Are there any spots within the city that the birds frequent?

[bnnrcn]

Hi Matt,I most like #3 with colours and posture

[chauncey]

One of my many hobbies in my younger days was shooting skeet...taught me to follow BIF.
To that end, I might suggest a sight http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/c....aspx?a=691313
As well as a shoulder stock rig like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfdXKOuj95U

BTW...those are quite descent gulls!

[Brownbear]

I love the first one, for the gorgeous colour and detail, and the adorable red feet.

[FlyingSquirrel]

Thanks for the comments and advice everyone