Bird photographers question

S

Speedfinder

Nov 14, 2023
39
4
#1
Do you use your lens wide open or stopped down for flight shots ?
I have just started to process over 10,000 photos. Reduced it to 2600 on first edit , no eye -out , no eye shine -out, any bit out of frame -out., nictating membrane -out.
I was tracking puffins with 600/ f4, 300/2.8 and 200/2.8 flying at me and got nice shots but when the landed with a mouth full of sand eels i was struggling with dept of field as they were close. They usually hit the ground running for their nest hole so no time to change aperature. The 200 2.8 did very well for birds flying close to the cliffs in strong winds. What works for you ?
 
#2
Here are 2 shots I took at f/4 with the EF 400mm DO II on a 5Div 5 years ago and a set earlier this year with RF 200-800mm at f/7.1 and 400-500mm on the R5. All are greatly cropped with 1 px = 1 px of original. They are all about 14m away.


2B4A9257-DxO_puffin+sandeels-lsss.jpg2B4A9310-DxO_puffin+sandeels_flying_face_on_ss.jpg309A3179-DxO_Puffin_flying_with_sandeels-ls-sm_crop.jpeg309A3304-DxO_Puffin_flying_with_sandeels_vg-ls-m_crop.jpeg309A3738-DxO_puffin_flying_with_sandeels-ls-m_crop.jpeg309A3912-DxO_Puffin_flying_with_sandeels_face_on_vg+mc-ls-m_crop.jpeg
 
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#4
Speedfinder said:
Great stuff Alan. I have not seen (knowingly) photos taken on a DO lens before.
Where did you take them ?
Click to expand...
Inner Farne Island, Northumbria UK. When I was with the 400/4 DO 5 years ago before Covid, there were some using the 400/2.8 etc. They couldn't move as fast as me and didn't get many successful shots. This year, I had intended to use the 100-500 on the R5 but a vacancy was available when I was carrying the 200-800, but it worked out well enough zoomed out to 400-500mm. The Farne Island had been closed for a few years because of Covid and then bird flu.
 
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#5
I am possibly the opposite of you, usually I pick a spot/species and stay set up on a tripod in the open where you can be seen. I spent a few hours outside a small field of patchy cover photographing a corncrake. Eventually it walked up to my tripod had a look around and back into its field. On a trip to the Shetlands we sussed out where to photograph Pharlarope. Next day we arrived early with our waders (on) and tripods. We set up in a few inches of water to get clear of the reeds. The birds arrived a good distance away so we waited. The Pharlaropes not only waded towards us but under our tripods and legs and continued past us. In both cases I could only enjoy the experience once they past my closest focusing point of my 500mm.
 
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