Birds in flight
By Gil Tuzon
Contributing Writer
Gil has a passion for photographing birds. In this two-part article he shares the basics of photographing birds in flight.
The prerequisite for an enjoyable experience photographing birds in flight is having the right mind-set. When you miss shots, laugh. When you capture great shots, thank nature for the opportunity. Capturing images of birds in motion evoke many more emotions than photographing them in a stationary position. Continual failure can easily wear down the most persistent photographer. Success lifts the sprit and gives one a sustained photographic high. The purpose of this article is to help you succeed.
Most important camera feature: speed
Aside from having a positive attitude, there are a few items and activities necessary to increase the chances of capturing successful bird in flight photos. First on the list is having an appropriate camera. A bird in flight is progressive motion so the most important camera feature relates to speed. Any digital camera that has a high shutter speed (1/500th a second and above) is suitable even if it doesn't have image stabilization. While long zoom capability is preferred, a standard 3X zoom can be used but on a more limited scale.
Manual mode
If a camera has a manual mode, use it. If not, shutter priority should be used with a minimum shutter speed of 1/500th of a second. Fast shutter speeds will easily freeze body movement a birds in flight but can still show a desirable blur of the wings and capture the flapping motion.
Why the preference for using manual settings when it is available? A manual setting fixes a uniform exposure at all angles and minimizes exposure variation with changing light conditions during the flight. Using programs with auto exposure modes can vary too much unless it has a feature to lock exposure for more than a single shot.
Baseline camera settings
Depending on the kind and tones of the bird, my baseline manual settings are 1/500th to 1/1300th second for shutter speed and f4.0 to f7.1 for aperture. For brighter tones on white or snowy egrets, I mostly use 1/800th shutter and a minimum f6.3 aperture for slight under exposure. During post processing (image editing), it is easier to pull out some detail in under exposed images than from over exposed ones.
For darker birds like Cormorants, I open up the aperture up to f4.0 to ease up on under exposing. Too much under exposure still gives usable details in images taken with a digital Single Lens Reflex camera but rarely when using consumer cameras. Heavily under exposed images will just create noise when lightened up during post processing. 
If there is no manual control, pattern or center weighted metering can be tried but I've personally had limited success with these. The cameras I use most have Through The Lens (TTL) contrast detect focusing that it is hard to achieve good and faster focusing when the exposure varies much. For focusing setup, I use spot or single area focusing. These are usually faster than multiple point focusing.
Conditions, settings and techniques to photograph birds in flight
The best condition to photograph birds in flight is when there is lots of light. You can use the lowest possible ISO available from your camera for the least amount of noise. You can also use the Sunny white balance setting for optimum in-camera color rendition.
Part 2Photos Copyright 2005 Gil Tuzon All rights reserved
