Noisy Miner Bird

[Clifftop]

Noisy miner Bird, been trying to get a shot of these in flight, i sit patiently in a chair while about 5 of these feed in the yard, they fly past me and are in no way intimidated.

 

Trying to second guess them on which way they will take off is no mean feat. when i do get it right by the time the auto focus gets focused i'm tooooo late.

 

I know i will eventually get a shot i like and i do have what would have been good shots if only they had been sharper or more in focus.

 

any tips will be greatfully tried.

 

 

and taking off

 

 

 

Cheers Fred

[corydoras]

Fred

 

Use manual focus, use the smallest aperture that you can to increase your DOF and bracket your shots. Put out some food as bait to attract them. Wild life photographer's do this all the time.

Edited March 14, 2009 by corydoras

[Sutton Warrior]

Noisy miner Bird, been trying to get a shot of these in flight, i sit patiently in a chair while about 5 of these feed in the yard, they fly past me and are in no way intimidated.

 

Trying to second guess them on which way they will take off is no mean feat. when i do get it right by the time the auto focus gets focused i'm tooooo late.

 

I know i will eventually get a shot i like and i do have what would have been good shots if only they had been sharper or more in focus.

 

any tips will be greatfully tried.

 

 

and taking off

 

 

 

Cheers Fred

 

 

How about predictive focus and/or continues shutter, Up the ISO to 200/300 which allows the shutter to set faster (if you want to stop the action 500th sec. shutter priority?) Follow through as though you are using a shot gun, looking through the view finder, keep the other eye open.

 

SW

Edited March 14, 2009 by Sutton Warrior

[Snatcher]

Different folk different strokes. Have tried a few diverse settings myself for in flight shots. From my point of view I find "sports mode" works a treat.Just keep the button depressed and follow the bird as it flies past.You get about 3 shots a second with the Canon 400D. Anyone else use this mode ???

 

John

[Sutton Warrior]

Different folk different strokes. Have tried a few diverse settings myself for in flight shots. From my point of view I find "sports mode" works a treat.Just keep the button depressed and follow the bird as it flies past.You get about 3 shots a second with the Canon 400D. Anyone else use this mode ???

 

John

 

 

Thats the uncomlicated way Shatcher Might not go down so well with the purist 'shoot manual' types But I like it, I like the simplicity a lot why did'nt I think of that Go for it Fred

 

SW

[corydoras]

Thats the uncomlicated way Shatcher Might not go down so well with the purist 'shoot manual' types But I like it, I like the simplicity a lot why did'nt I think of that Go for it Fred

 

SW

Have little respect for purists of any description. What a lot of them don't understand is that a great deal of those wonderful wildlife shots that one sees in the likes of National Geographic are actually set ups. Any technique that gets you the image that you want is a good technique for you, end of.

 

Experiment with all the settings on your camera. That's what they are there for. One of the good things about digital photography is that you can afford to shoot as many shots as you want and not have to worry about how much it is going to cost to develop a roll of dud's.

[ayjay]

As Snatcher has said, different things work for different folks. Manual focus works for some and is probably OK in a large open area but I'm not sure you''ll have the time to react with garden birds at close range.

 

There's several ideas here and here if you want to bone up a bit.

 

This is quite an interesting link too.

[Clifftop]

Thanks guys , already tried the sports mode and continuos shutter.

 

part of my problem is that i am too close i think, i have lots of room if a sit at 180 degrees from where i do sit but then the background is full of pipes hot water service windows and other stuff

and the colour of the wall is sh!t. plus im out in the open more.

 

This is the exif of the pic of the bird just launching itself from the bushes.

Exposure Time = 1/500"

F Number = F5.6

Exposure Program = Not defined

ISO Speed Ratings = 360

Exif Version = Version 2.21

 

So it looks like im doing the right thing and have to learn patiance, and as my old mum used to say every thing comes to him who waits.

In regards to the manual focus i have trouble there as it is, but will give it a go. As ayjay says me being close there is not a lot of time to react

ayjay Thanks for the link some interesting reading there. i think me and Christineredgate have a lot in common.

 

Cheers guys Fred

[Sutton Warrior]

Thanks guys , already tried the sports mode and continuos shutter.

 

part of my problem is that i am too close i think, i have lots of room if a sit at 180 degrees from where i do sit but then the background is full of pipes hot water service windows and other stuff

and the colour of the wall is sh!t. plus im out in the open more.

 

This is the exif of the pic of the bird just launching itself from the bushes.

Exposure Time = 1/500"

F Number = F5.6

Exposure Program = Not defined

ISO Speed Ratings = 360

Exif Version = Version 2.21

 

So it looks like im doing the right thing and have to learn patiance, and as my old mum used to say every thing comes to him who waits.

In regards to the manual focus i have trouble there as it is, but will give it a go. As ayjay says me being close there is not a lot of time to react

ayjay Thanks for the link some interesting reading there. i think me and Christineredgate have a lot in common.

 

Cheers guys Fred

 

Fred, dont worry to much, my gull pic., in this months comp., I took 50 pics, this was one of two that were just usable, the rest were a wast of space. Imagine it, an 'anorak' with camera/long lens in one hand, throwing chunks of bread in the air with the other and it was blowing a hoolie'!!!! What people though who were watching . . . Choose inanimate objects like ships propellers . . . makes life easy

 

SW

 

PS, ISO on the gull not dissimilar to you figures, if I remember rightly.

[RobStubbs]

Thanks guys , already tried the sports mode and continuos shutter.

 

part of my problem is that i am too close i think, i have lots of room if a sit at 180 degrees from where i do sit but then the background is full of pipes hot water service windows and other stuff

and the colour of the wall is sh!t. plus im out in the open more.

 

This is the exif of the pic of the bird just launching itself from the bushes.

Exposure Time = 1/500"

F Number = F5.6

Exposure Program = Not defined

ISO Speed Ratings = 360

Exif Version = Version 2.21

 

So it looks like im doing the right thing and have to learn patiance, and as my old mum used to say every thing comes to him who waits.

In regards to the manual focus i have trouble there as it is, but will give it a go. As ayjay says me being close there is not a lot of time to react

ayjay Thanks for the link some interesting reading there. i think me and Christineredgate have a lot in common.

 

Cheers guys Fred

 

Try the aperture priority mode. You don't need 1/500th and getting F8 or even F11 will give you a much greater depth of field. I've never tried the sports mode on my camera but I'd expect that should work. As mentioned before shoot of loads of pics and try the different modes and see what works. You can delete as many duff shots as you fancy.

 

Rob.