Help your bird photography take flight with these tips
posted Wednesday, February 24, 2016 at 4:01 PM EDT
B&H has uploaded an excellent video showcasing bird photography and tips and tricks from professional photographers Arthur Morris and Denise Ippolito. This is a must-watch video for any photographers out there who enjoy capturing images of birds.
The full talk is nearly 100 minutes long and available here, but B&H has conveniently also edited and uploaded a shorter highlight video that can be seen below.
The highlight video opens with Denise sharing her preferred shutter speeds for photographing birds in flight. While there are many considerations you must take into account when photographing birds in flight, her average shutter speed ranges from 1/1000s to 1/2500s. With slower shutter speeds, you might not be able to freeze action. Beyond 1/2500s you won't benefit much as far as freezing action is concerned, but you might need to increase your ISO. Arthur Morris adds, "Much of flight photography has to do with the direction of the wind. In general, you want the sun behind you and the wind behind you…"
It isn't always about getting the perfect settings though, as Morris says, "When unexpected action happens, push the shutter button." Once, while out photographing coastal brown bears and shooting in manual mode, a bald eagle flew into the scene. With his settings still at 1/200s and the aperture at f/5.6, Morris still managed to capture a great shot -- as shown the index image seen above. As he says, when you're changing settings, you're not capturing images.
Other talking points from the highlight video include recommending exposing to the right to get the most information possible in your RAW images, how to properly stabilize your camera, the importance of patience out in the field, and telling a story with your bird photography. Be sure to watch the video above to see excellent bird photography and learn much more about Arthur and Denise's processes and techniques.
If you enjoyed the video above, be sure to check out the full video.
To view more of their work, visit Arthur's website and Denise's website.
(Seen via The Digital Picture)