BIF, easier in theory...

[Shadowman]

I first tried using 2x extender but couldn't hit the side of a barn from within five feet.
f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/1500sec, 270mm

[Marie Hass]

Soooo.....how are you getting along with it now?

Nice an crisp, by the way.

Marie

[Stagecoach]

They are better than anything I have ever achieved John, I'm sure it just needs practice

[John 2]

They are better than anything I have ever achieved John, I'm sure it just needs practice

Me too, especially with an extender.

[Otavio]

Hello, John. Nice images you got.

Just a suggestion, if you would not mind: for big birds, like seagulls, F/5.6 will give you a very shallow DoF. That can cause a wing or another part of the bird to be out of the focus area, even if the eye/head (what really matters) is in perfect focus. I usually set to F/8 or F/9 for these birds. If light is not enough, you might compensate by increasing the ISO (as you were @100, there was much room for that).

Anyway, beautiful images of a lovely bird! Thanks for sharing.

[chauncey]

Easier in theory...you can't tell me that you're just discovering that photography is easier in theory, especially BIF, or any other specialized segment in photography.

Wait a minute, it just dawned on me...dah. Your compliant was tongue-in-cheek...my bad, slow on uptake.

[Shadowman]

Soooo.....how are you getting along with it now?

Nice an crisp, by the way.

Marie

Many misses, very few hits. Not only do you have to be in sync with the camera, the birds behavior is so erratic that failure rate is high.

[Shadowman]

They are better than anything I have ever achieved John, I'm sure it just needs practice

Grahame,

Thanks for the complement and vote of confidence. Next session, getting all of the bird in the frame.

[Shadowman]

Me too, especially with an extender.

Thanks John.

[Shadowman]

Hello, John. Nice images you got.

Just a suggestion, if you would not mind: for big birds, like seagulls, F/5.6 will give you a very shallow DoF. That can cause a wing or another part of the bird to be out of the focus area, even if the eye/head (what really matters) is in perfect focus. I usually set to F/8 or F/9 for these birds. If light is not enough, you might compensate by increasing the ISO (as you were @100, there was much room for that).

Anyway, beautiful images of a lovely bird! Thanks for sharing.

Otavio,

Thanks for the suggestions and comments.

[Shadowman]

Easier in theory...you can't tell me that you're just discovering that photography is easier in theory, especially BIF, or any other specialized segment in photography.

Wait a minute, it just dawned on me...dah. Your compliant was tongue-in-cheek...my bad, slow on uptake.

If only that were true.

[deetheturk]

Very good John,looks like you are heading in the right direction bud

[Shadowman]

Very good John,looks like you are heading in the right direction bud

Thanks David.

[leslie1283]

Very nice images. It is very difficult to place the seagull on the right. The best I can do is to photograph it at centre and crop away the right side during PP.

[Shadowman]

Very nice images. It is very difficult to place the seagull on the right. The best I can do is to photograph it at centre and crop away the right side during PP.

Leslie,

Thanks for the comments and suggestions.

[jamn4ex]

when I am shooting birds in flight I almost always shoot at iso 400 or higher since I am tunneling that light through a longer lense if that puts my speed at 1 8000th a sec so be it the faster the better with a bif. I also use center point focus, and crop for desired composition.
nice sharp images here. " Sea gull you fly across the horizon and into the misty morning sun" Paul Rogers...

[bnnrcn]

Very nice shots John. If you didn't say it was your first trial , I would never know

[chauncey]

Tracking BIF is difficult at best...ya need a camera/lens that has a super accurate AF system that can quickly lock onto that bird and...can transfer focus points to lock onto it wherever it's at in your viewfinder when you fire off a burst. It goes without saying that keeping it in that viewfinder is somewhat imperative.

Additionally, it does help if you can anticipate the flight path of the critter in question...somewhat simple for the lumbering Egrets flying across a pond. The smaller darting birds, like sea gulls, makes the whole thing seem like an exercise in futility with an embarrassing minute keeper rate. Spending four hours at the beach with a single keeper is not my idea of a good time.

Hmm, exposure on a white bird against a bright sky...you hope it's fixable in LightRoom.

FWIW...using a 300 f/2.8 lens, with/without a 2X TC, I rarely go above f/4-5.6 to keep my ISO below 400, with SS 1000-2000 on the big birds and a lot higher on the smaller darters.

[ajohnw]

I wont post any of mine John. I had one go for 1/4 hr in a cold strong wind and gained ear ache for my troubles. On m 4/3 at 300mm, finding them was fun and the focus sailed straight through on some attempts. Being fair they were white and the background was rather grey and just to make life easier they were coming more or less straight at me. Didn't check the preview and ISO was way too high.

Your shots look pretty good to me. Not sure what lens you are using but my 2x converter came of some one shooting with one of the to 300mm zooms and AF wouldn't work at longer lengths. It seems to be OK on F4 lenses on a D7000.

I will post one to show you what I mean. Way too much noise reduction needed. I should have waited until they were closer too as this is about 1/3 crop.



John
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[Brownbear]

Hi John,

The 1st image is a very nice shot. Beautiful sharp focus and flying into the frame. Center point focus is easier but changing your focus point is nice for different compositions and doable, albeit less keepers.

Gulls are great to practice on... especially on windy days when they hover in the air for a while longer... Pigeons are also great to practice on and in the right light their colouring is very beautiful, plus they have character.