Tips For Great Photos Of Birds In Flight

One of the most demanding forms of wildlife and nature photography is photographing birds in flight. Of course, just getting great bird shots in general is difficult because they are usually always on the move and very wary of your presence. But when they take off and start to fly, the difficulty of getting a good clear shot while they are flying is compounded many times over.

To get great shots of birds in flight, your equipment has to be up to the task at hand. This means that your camera will need to be able to shoot multiple frames per second to make sure that you get a frame with the wings of your bird in the right position to make a pleasing shot. How many frames per second is good enough? Generally, I prefer at least 5 frames per second, but more is even better.

The cameras I have been using lately are Sony SLTs which means "single lens translucent" cameras. In other words, they do not have a mirror that flips up to expose the camera sensor every time a shot is taken. This allows for rapid shooting up to 12 frames per second and that is plenty fast. You can still get great BIF (birds in flight) shots if you are shooting Nikon or Canon or any other brand, but whatever camera you are using, it is made much easier when the shooting speed of your camera is at least 5 frames per second.

Some photographers like to hold the shutter button down and fire off 2-3 seconds worth of continuous shots at these high frame rates, but I am not a fan of that method. Instead I like to shoot in smaller bursts of 5-6 frames and then recompose the bird in my viewfinder and fire another burst. It just seems to help me get more keepers by doing that.

In future posts I'll discuss the importance of rapid focusing to get clear BIF shots too. In the meantime, here is a shot I took recently of an osprey at Circle B Bar Reserve with a little backlighting on his wings:

This osprey was really moving as he was almost directly overhead when this shot was taken. 

Photographing Ducklings In Springtime

Springtime is the time of year when many birds are nesting and caring for their young. That makes it a great opportunity to get some really good bird family shots, and ducks make great subjects for these kind of nature photos.

But if you have tried to get images of ducklings before, you know how difficult that can often be because mama ducks are very vigilant and will lead them away from you and your camera if she feels that you are in any way a danger to her young. After all, that's her job.

So how do you get close enough to get great duckling images with Mom hanging around all the time?

The key is the same with so many other nature shots. You need to be patient and slowly work your way closer to her and the ducklings, and when I say slowly, I mean SLOW. The problem with most photographers is they are not very patient and they just want to walk up and get the shot and move on. If you try that with ducklings, you aren't going to get much.

Recently, I visited Lake Morton in Lakeland, FL as it's one of my favorite locations for bird photos. While there, a mama duck with her ducklings comes swimming by. Of course, they got my attention, but mama was super vigilant and would lead them away from me at first. So, I went into super slow-motion and eased toward them little by little trying not to seem like I was even interested in their little family. By taking my time, mama eventually forgot about me and sort of began to view me as just part of the scenery. As a result I was able to get these photos:

Of course, having a long telephoto lens helps close the distance between you and your subjects in situations like this and that also helps keep mama duck at ease. I used a 400mm and I think that it's a good focal length for APS-C cameras if you want to get close-up nature shots without setting off too many alarms among the wildlife you are photographing.

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See my latest nature and wildlife images at:
www.duanelipham.com
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The Importance Of Your Subject's Background In Nature And Wildlife Photography

In many forms of photography the background, or area behind your main subject, is an important consideration when composing the shot. But in nature photography, it is not only important, it is crucial that you select the best background possible.

In many cases, the best background for your wildlife subject is simple, out of focus, and not distracting from the main subject. But sometimes, the background can also enhance the main subject. You just have to make sure that it is not competing with the main subject, or the image will be confusing and too busy to be pleasing to the eye.

So how do you know when the image background is good while looking through the camera viewfinder or at the LCD screen? Honestly, this is a skill that can be learned by taking lots of photos and examining them in post-processing to find your winners. Some people also seem to have a better eye for identifying good backgrounds than others, but everyone can learn and master the skill if they just keep working at it.

When working with wildlife, getting as close as they will allow you will often produce a nice clear shot of the subject while making everything in the background go soft and pleasingly out of focus, especially if you are working with a long telephoto lens. But try to move around if possible and find the angle that gives the most pleasing background.

Sometimes the background will change if you are patient and take several shots over a period of time. As an example, here are two shots I took of a blue heron with a koi pond in the background. In one shot, the koi pond was in shadow and made a nice plain background that draws attention the bird in the frame. But in the other, the sun broke through for a moment and lit up some of the koi in the pond. In my opinion, this shot is the one I favor because it created more drama and interest in the composition, although if much more color was present it could have easily overpowered the heron.

The heron itself is almost identical in both shots, but what a difference in mood the background made from one shot to the next. This was possible only because I stayed for a while and took several shots as conditions and lighting behind the bird changed.

So if you want great nature and wildlife photos, don't just focus on the subject alone. Make sure that you also pay close attention to the background as well!

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See my latest nature and wildlife images at:
www.duanelipham.com
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How To Keep Telephoto Shots Really Sharp

Nature photographers are often working with telephoto lenses that allow them to get close-up shots with plenty of detail, because animals rarely let you get too close on your own. But one of the issues that rears its ugly head when using long focal length lenses is image blur.

As the focal length increases so does the importance of maintaining the stability of the lens as it is almost impossible to keep it rock steady by hand-holding alone. So here are a few tips that I have found that help keep your images sharp even when using a long telephoto lens.

• One thing that really helps is using a fast shutter speed. The faster the better. This is simply because the shorter the amount of time that the light reaches the digital sensor, the less chance to record any movement of the lens, and vice versa.
  
•  Of course, there are times when using high shutter speeds just isn't practical when you are shooting outdoors. This is made even more problematic since really long telephoto lenses usually require more light for good exposure anyway. You can get long focal length lenses with lower minimum f-stops, but you have to spend a fortune to do it, and they weigh a ton, which also introduces more possibility of camera shake and blur unless securely fastened down to a high-end tripod. So here is where having some form of image stabilization is a great idea. In the Nikon and Canon world, that means buying lenses with image stabilization built into the lens. In the case of Sony cameras such as the ones I use, the IS is built into the camera itself. An important reminder is that although IS can help you use slower shutter speeds and still get fairly sharp results, it is no miracle cure for camera shake and will not be very effective beyond about 1/60 second.
  
• The ultimate way to make sure your long shots are sharp is to use a stabilization device, usually either a monopod or tripod. The bigger the lens, the more sturdy the device has to be to hold the camera and lens firmly in place.

For me, I use all three of these methods frequently. Sometimes, depending on the shooting conditions, I use a combination of a couple of these methods together to get the results I want. Generally, it is best not to use image stabilization and tripods together though as the IS will sometimes introduce a measure of blur when it doesn't detect any movement in the scene. So image stabilization is mainly for use in situations where you are hand-holding the lens or using a monopod.

So if you want sharp nature photos, start practicing the use of these methods to get the results you want.

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See my latest nature and wildlife images at:
www.duanelipham.com
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Mute Swan Photos From Lake Morton

Lakeland, Florida has the distinction of being a major breeder and caretaker of mute swans. In fact, they have become the symbol of the city and you can see large ceramic swans in front of many local businesses as you drive around the city.

Mute swan headquarters in the city is found at Lake Morton and it has been that way for many years. In most cases, mute swans are very territorial and don't allow more than one pair in their general area, but these swans are so well-fed they don't mind sharing the bounty with other swans. In fact, there are several breeding pairs at Lake Morton.

I like to photograph swans and have accumulated several images over the years. The swans at Lake Morton are pretty cooperative with photographers because they have a steady stream of people coming to the lake year-round to take their photo. However, if you get too close for comfort, don't be surprised to hear them hiss at you as a warning to be careful and keep your distance.

Because mute swans are so large, it can be hard to get the whole body in a shot and have any real detail show in the image. For this reason, I like to get in tight while they are on land and relaxing. When they are in the water, you can always get a nice shot when the light is low on the horizon and the lake water is still. This creates a beautiful reflection in the water that is very pleasing.

Another great pose for swans is when they are "busking" on water, which is a kind of threat display. The neck is curved back and the wings are half-raised. It's more or less a way to show off and project their authority, but it also makes a great photo.

Here are some of the shots I have taken lately of the mute swans at Lake Morton. Maybe they will give you some ideas of how you would like to photograph them too.

An example of mute swans in their busking pose

Another busking pose

A common pose when lake water is still

This is an example of getting in tight when on land

I generally recommend using a telephoto lens that is suited to wildlife like a 300mm - 500mm lens to be able to get as close as possible without alarming or irritating these beautiful birds.

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See my latest nature and wildlife images at:
www.duanelipham.com
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