Posted by Meint Sijp on November 19, 2007 at 11:00 AM
Hi i really love those beautiful photos of the birds people showe in here. therefore i hope tat someone could and would be helpfull with some good tips on empooving my shots.
1) What cind of mode do you use?? M, P, AV, ETC.
2) Howe du you get the light right compared to the bird in flight, Do you messure the light before hand somewhere, the apature, ISO, etc.
3) I have a hard time getting the track of the birds sharp in flight and the light right most of the time. i¨m using the canon 1D MRKIII, so still have a lot to learn about getting the AI SERVO right, but i'm learning every day.
If you have some good advce i havent mentioned here it would be most welkome.
On forehand thanks for any help, and ceep those shots comming.
Hi Meint,
I think a good place for you to start might be by reading an article in NPN Oct 2007
Go to the site map and click on Articles ans Reviews at the top. Scroll down to Oc
Hi Meint,
I think a good place for you to start might be by reading an article in NPN Oct 2007
Go to the site map and click on Articles ans Reviews at the top. Scroll down to October and read that article.
Cheer
Rick T
Posted by Dan Borzynski on November 19, 2007 at 12:08 PM
I'm not a real big bird photographer, but here is some of what I do.
I use AV. The logic is that I want the fastest possible shutter speed for the situation. This will get it. Using TV, the shutter speed is locked on the value you set it at. If lighting conditions change, you'll still have the same shutter speed, even if you can use a faster one. Being more landscape and and macro, I also tend to think more about DOF than anything else, so that is also my bias.
For metering in flight, I let the camera meter and if necessary, override it manually. I've used my cameras enough to understand and adjust without much thought, but it has taken a lot of bad exposures to accomplish that.
If conditions are fairly stable in terms of lighting, you can meter off of the sky beforehand and set that, with any needed compensations, as a manual exposure and switch when you go to flight shots. Going from dark underbrush to a clear sky in manual, knowing that I will have to quickly change the exposure, I just can't do quickly enough - part of the reason for staying with AV.
Buried in all of the above is understanding exposure. None of the above works well without that.
For increasing the success of flight shots, you are asking the wrong person. My rate is really low, but practice, practice, practice.
Good luck.
Posted by William Lloyd on November 19, 2007 at 12:48 PM
Hi, Meint -
First off, I recommend that you go here: birdsasart.com and sign up for the free newsletter that comes via email about twice a month - also, I highly recommend that you buy Artie's 'The Art of Bird Photography II' CD - well, well worth the money. On his website, the newsletters are archived, you can read them all - the inclusion of photos with shooting information and a short discussion of why he shot it the way he did makes the newsletter a tremendous resource.
AV mode with exposure compensation dialed in is what most people use so they can control the background softness, making the subject stand out. Sometimes you want more depth of field, to show the bird in it's environment, you could use a different mode or simply choose to use a smaller aperture. For birds in flight, where they are coming in for a landing or flying against varied background, the camera will not meter properly for the best bird exposure, and will change settings as the background changes - here, where the background is changing, it is best to meter/figure out what is the best exposure for the bird, then set that in manual mode. The histogram on the back of the camera will guide you in setting the exposure.
I use AV mode about 80% of the time, M the rest. I vary ISO depending on subject movement and available light, trying to get motion stop on the subject....
You are of course aware that there are some (most) Canon Mk3 cameras with a defect in the autofocus system, this can be adjusted by Canon starting at the end of the month.
Birds in flight take practice, good lighting conditions, and the proper equipment - large supertelephotos need quality support for best results. One thing, generally, you will want the sunlight directly behind you, illuminating the bird in front of you evenly.
Posted by Meint Sijp on November 19, 2007 at 1:50 PM
Hi RichardDan and William, thanks for youre fast replys. I'll read and off course practice and practice
I havent had any luck finding the cd from Arthure Morris on the European bookshelfs so fare and i'm hessitating buyng it from the USA because of the politics in DK. they charge you an additional 25% of anything buoght outside Europe but got a little insight in the book and looking forward to read it. The thing with 1D mrk3 is that i havent heard anything from canon dk yet about when and howe i can get the fix so still waiting on that. I'll go out te next couple of days and try out your suggestions, andsee howe goes
Posted by Terry Sohl on November 19, 2007 at 5:37 PM
Another vote for AV mode, so you can maximize shutter speed for the selected aperature. I also let the camera meter on the fly, but set exposure comp in advance, depending on the species I'm trying to shoot, and the expected light conditions of the shot itself.
I use fill-flash on pretty much all my flight shots now, to varying degrees depending upon conditions. ISO set in advance depending upon conditions, once again, trying to help with SS if need be.
I agree exact technique has much less to do with it than does knowing your target species and how it's likely to behave. Patience, and an attitude that you don't mind tossing out most of your shots, helps too!!
Posted by Dan Borzynski on November 19, 2007 at 6:26 PM
Keep an eye on the Canon websites for the fix. The weird thing is that Canon USA (at least by e-mail) was outlining the nature of the fix and a timetable when they expected it, while Canon of various countries in the EU still were denying the existence of the problem in the first place. You really have to wonder...
Anyway, check the Canon USA websites. I don't own the camera or plan to in the immediate future, but have at least peripherally followed the issue. The autofocus problems are definitely real.
Discussion
7 replies1) What cind of mode do you use?? M, P, AV, ETC.
2) Howe du you get the light right compared to the bird in flight, Do you messure the light before hand somewhere, the apature, ISO, etc.
3) I have a hard time getting the track of the birds sharp in flight and the light right most of the time. i¨m using the canon 1D MRKIII, so still have a lot to learn about getting the AI SERVO right, but i'm learning every day.
If you have some good advce i havent mentioned here it would be most welkome.
On forehand thanks for any help, and ceep those shots comming.
regards meint
I think a good place for you to start might be by reading an article in NPN Oct 2007
Go to the site map and click on Articles ans Reviews at the top. Scroll down to Oc
I think a good place for you to start might be by reading an article in NPN Oct 2007
Go to the site map and click on Articles ans Reviews at the top. Scroll down to October and read that article.
Cheer
Rick T
I use AV. The logic is that I want the fastest possible shutter speed for the situation. This will get it. Using TV, the shutter speed is locked on the value you set it at. If lighting conditions change, you'll still have the same shutter speed, even if you can use a faster one. Being more landscape and and macro, I also tend to think more about DOF than anything else, so that is also my bias.
For metering in flight, I let the camera meter and if necessary, override it manually. I've used my cameras enough to understand and adjust without much thought, but it has taken a lot of bad exposures to accomplish that.
If conditions are fairly stable in terms of lighting, you can meter off of the sky beforehand and set that, with any needed compensations, as a manual exposure and switch when you go to flight shots. Going from dark underbrush to a clear sky in manual, knowing that I will have to quickly change the exposure, I just can't do quickly enough - part of the reason for staying with AV.
Buried in all of the above is understanding exposure. None of the above works well without that.
For increasing the success of flight shots, you are asking the wrong person. My rate is really low, but practice, practice, practice.
Good luck.
First off, I recommend that you go here: birdsasart.com and sign up for the free newsletter that comes via email about twice a month - also, I highly recommend that you buy Artie's 'The Art of Bird Photography II' CD - well, well worth the money. On his website, the newsletters are archived, you can read them all - the inclusion of photos with shooting information and a short discussion of why he shot it the way he did makes the newsletter a tremendous resource.
AV mode with exposure compensation dialed in is what most people use so they can control the background softness, making the subject stand out. Sometimes you want more depth of field, to show the bird in it's environment, you could use a different mode or simply choose to use a smaller aperture. For birds in flight, where they are coming in for a landing or flying against varied background, the camera will not meter properly for the best bird exposure, and will change settings as the background changes - here, where the background is changing, it is best to meter/figure out what is the best exposure for the bird, then set that in manual mode. The histogram on the back of the camera will guide you in setting the exposure.
I use AV mode about 80% of the time, M the rest. I vary ISO depending on subject movement and available light, trying to get motion stop on the subject....
You are of course aware that there are some (most) Canon Mk3 cameras with a defect in the autofocus system, this can be adjusted by Canon starting at the end of the month.
Birds in flight take practice, good lighting conditions, and the proper equipment - large supertelephotos need quality support for best results. One thing, generally, you will want the sunlight directly behind you, illuminating the bird in front of you evenly.
I havent had any luck finding the cd from Arthure Morris on the European bookshelfs so fare and i'm hessitating buyng it from the USA because of the politics in DK. they charge you an additional 25% of anything buoght outside Europe
I use fill-flash on pretty much all my flight shots now, to varying degrees depending upon conditions. ISO set in advance depending upon conditions, once again, trying to help with SS if need be.
I agree exact technique has much less to do with it than does knowing your target species and how it's likely to behave. Patience, and an attitude that you don't mind tossing out most of your shots, helps too!!
Anyway, check the Canon USA websites. I don't own the camera or plan to in the immediate future, but have at least peripherally followed the issue. The autofocus problems are definitely real.