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Birds Birds in flight photos, post here
Sweet!
L0n3Gr3yW0lf
Hall of Famer
- Location
- Somerset, UK
- Name
- Ovi
Are you sure? It looks more like the CIA with that intense gaze
Bill in Texas
All-Pro
- Location
- Texas
Excellent, especially like the last one.
Thanks bill I was happy with these I usually struggle with groups of birds
L0n3Gr3yW0lf
Hall of Famer
- Location
- Somerset, UK
- Name
- Ovi
Sorry for the long post in advance.
I found myself in another lucky weather and light condition to try to photograph Swallows in flight as they hunt above the grass field for insects.
I am sharing the pictures in a backwards timeline of when I made them, going from the end of the session to the beginning.
This was a more than unusually difficult situation because, for an unknown reason, my OM-1 EVF fogged up covering more than half of the frame right at the centre and it was very difficult to see and track the birds under the grey out-of-focus blob.
One of my curiosities for trying this is to see how well the new v1.7 firmware tracks and focuses on the little birds. It took a while for me to remember that the improvements are declared ONLY for the All AF Points group selected so I had to fight my innate instinct to use centre Large AF Point for this situation.
The thing is I don't know how well (or not) the AF worked on v1.6 because I never used All AF Points ... so this later realisation pretty much shut down my idea of testing it out. But at least I have my experience with it now ... and the thing is when it works IT WORKS AMAZINGLY, it can find the subject faster than I can AND it keeps it on the bird better than I can with one Large AF Point IF the bird starts making its famous turns and dives mid-air (that's where I struggle the most).
But it can and does fail and when that happens it is pretty catastrophic because it will not find the bird for a very long time or will outright refuse to lock on the bird even if you can see it yourself in the EVF. Sometimes and\or some photographers can be/are control freaks where they want to control everything about the camera because they don't trust the technology. I can be that way sometimes too (like shooting in Manual Mode, using Back Button AF or Single Point AF). I don't trust this setup still but I will try to use it in dense vegetation like shooting up and into the trees to see if the Subject Detection is better at staying on the bird through the branches and leaves.
I am still quite happy with some of the images I got ... out of 2.500 images, I expect to have about a dozen great ones and about 50 good ones. I haven't gone through all of them yet but I have enough to keep me happy and excited for a little while.
This is one of my favourite images of all of them. My original intention was to photograph the Swallows flying above the grass fields and because the grass is bright yellow from a very specific time of day when the sun is at an angle and the dark upper side of the Swallows makes a very strong contrast where the Subject Detection can easily find the bird and the AF can easily track it. But this one kind of blew my socks off because the Swallow was right above the shadows from the tree line behind the grass field and it would have been more difficult for the Subject Detection and AF to work BUT it did work and I got a wonderful shot where the sun was illuminating the wings from the other side.
This is a similar situation but the bird was a bit farther away. But what I love about this shot is that the upper win is as bright as the grass with lovely contrast from the shadows and the lower wing is almost as dark as the shadows above it and in lovely contrast with the bright grass ... and the bird is almost smack dab in the middle between the grass and the tree line .. such shots are more pure luck then actual planning or even noticing it while it happens.
One of the shots I was hoping to get is to show the beautiful white dots on their tails that make them look like butterflies.
What I love is to get more than one of the birds in the frame because, with one in the background, it gives the scene the feeling of action and busyness ... if the other bird is in the foreground it adds a sense of dimensionality and depth.
But it is very rare to get two birds in the same plane of focus, with these two it feels like they are on a collision course but that's impossible for these incredibly nimble creatures, such a thing would never happen.
With Single Point AF I had more consistent results and it was a lot more dependent on me to stay on target. But it's incredibly difficult to stay with one of the fastest birds in nature at 300mm equiv. focal length and shallow DoF of f 2.8 (5.6 equiv). Adding the Olympus MC-14 is even more difficult with the extra focal length, the narrower the angle of view is the faster the perceived speed of the birds is because it takes less time to fly across your frame than a wider angle.
I was hoping to catch one shot where the Swallow is ready to nom nom one of the bugs mid-flight but no such luck, maybe next time.
In all honesty, all of these shots are not perfect pin sharp and perfect IQ but this is all I can muster ... for now.
This one is another favourite of mine that has come down to pure luck to have a 2nd Swallowfly right in front of the one I was tracking.
Of course, shooting them when they are so high that the sky is the background but that's like putting it on Very Easy Mode.
I would love to try this with the Pany 200mm f 2.8 and/or Oly 300mm f 4 PRO because I am a masochist and I LOVE PAIN
Trying to shoot them at the pond is an even more insane level of difficulty because the angle of freedom is so much smaller from the dense reeds that gives a very small window where you can see them and the background is more busy for the Subject Detection and AF to struggle with.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
I found myself in another lucky weather and light condition to try to photograph Swallows in flight as they hunt above the grass field for insects.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
I am sharing the pictures in a backwards timeline of when I made them, going from the end of the session to the beginning.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
This was a more than unusually difficult situation because, for an unknown reason, my OM-1 EVF fogged up covering more than half of the frame right at the centre and it was very difficult to see and track the birds under the grey out-of-focus blob.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
One of my curiosities for trying this is to see how well the new v1.7 firmware tracks and focuses on the little birds. It took a while for me to remember that the improvements are declared ONLY for the All AF Points group selected so I had to fight my innate instinct to use centre Large AF Point for this situation.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
The thing is I don't know how well (or not) the AF worked on v1.6 because I never used All AF Points ... so this later realisation pretty much shut down my idea of testing it out. But at least I have my experience with it now ... and the thing is when it works IT WORKS AMAZINGLY, it can find the subject faster than I can AND it keeps it on the bird better than I can with one Large AF Point IF the bird starts making its famous turns and dives mid-air (that's where I struggle the most).
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
But it can and does fail and when that happens it is pretty catastrophic because it will not find the bird for a very long time or will outright refuse to lock on the bird even if you can see it yourself in the EVF. Sometimes and\or some photographers can be/are control freaks where they want to control everything about the camera because they don't trust the technology. I can be that way sometimes too (like shooting in Manual Mode, using Back Button AF or Single Point AF). I don't trust this setup still but I will try to use it in dense vegetation like shooting up and into the trees to see if the Subject Detection is better at staying on the bird through the branches and leaves.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
I am still quite happy with some of the images I got ... out of 2.500 images, I expect to have about a dozen great ones and about 50 good ones. I haven't gone through all of them yet but I have enough to keep me happy and excited for a little while.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
This is one of my favourite images of all of them. My original intention was to photograph the Swallows flying above the grass fields and because the grass is bright yellow from a very specific time of day when the sun is at an angle and the dark upper side of the Swallows makes a very strong contrast where the Subject Detection can easily find the bird and the AF can easily track it. But this one kind of blew my socks off because the Swallow was right above the shadows from the tree line behind the grass field and it would have been more difficult for the Subject Detection and AF to work BUT it did work and I got a wonderful shot where the sun was illuminating the wings from the other side.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
This is a similar situation but the bird was a bit farther away. But what I love about this shot is that the upper win is as bright as the grass with lovely contrast from the shadows and the lower wing is almost as dark as the shadows above it and in lovely contrast with the bright grass ... and the bird is almost smack dab in the middle between the grass and the tree line
.. such shots are more pure luck then actual planning or even noticing it while it happens.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
One of the shots I was hoping to get is to show the beautiful white dots on their tails that make them look like butterflies.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
What I love is to get more than one of the birds in the frame because, with one in the background, it gives the scene the feeling of action and busyness ... if the other bird is in the foreground it adds a sense of dimensionality and depth.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
But it is very rare to get two birds in the same plane of focus, with these two it feels like they are on a collision course but that's impossible for these incredibly nimble creatures, such a thing would never happen.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
With Single Point AF I had more consistent results and it was a lot more dependent on me to stay on target. But it's incredibly difficult to stay with one of the fastest birds in nature at 300mm equiv. focal length and shallow DoF of f 2.8 (5.6 equiv). Adding the Olympus MC-14 is even more difficult with the extra focal length, the narrower the angle of view is the faster the perceived speed of the birds is because it takes less time to fly across your frame than a wider angle.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
I was hoping to catch one shot where the Swallow is ready to nom nom one of the bugs mid-flight but no such luck, maybe next time.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
In all honesty, all of these shots are not perfect pin sharp and perfect IQ but this is all I can muster ... for now.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
This one is another favourite of mine that has come down to pure luck to have a 2nd Swallowfly right in front of the one I was tracking.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Of course, shooting them when they are so high that the sky is the background but that's like putting it on Very Easy Mode.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
I would love to try this with the Pany 200mm f 2.8 and/or Oly 300mm f 4 PRO because I am a masochist and I LOVE PAIN
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Trying to shoot them at the pond is an even more insane level of difficulty because the angle of freedom is so much smaller from the dense reeds that gives a very small window where you can see them and the background is more busy for the Subject Detection and AF to struggle with.
Bill in Texas
All-Pro
- Location
- Texas
Excellent shot!
Cheers Bill
