Conrad, you've had a very productive day here.
Some excellent photos compositionally and exposure-wise.
The BIF shots are getting better and better, especially the fast terns.
One more thing IMO that you'd still need to polish up a bit is the exposure of those terns......I'd like to see their eye, and I'd like to see less cropping. Position yourself closer to their flight/fishing path........400 mm should be plenty long for that. As an example, I got these two images with a 200mm lens. Another benefit of proximity to them is that they will give you the eye contact.
Once you accomplish that with a bit of practice, I am confident you'll be able to shot with the best small BIF shooters out there.
PetKal wrote:
Conrad, you've had a very productive day here.
Some excellent photos compositionally and exposure-wise.
The BIF shots are getting better and better, especially the fast terns.
One more thing IMO that you'd still need to polish up a bit is the exposure of those terns......I'd like to see their eye, and I'd like to see less cropping. Position yourself closer to their flight/fishing path........400 mm should be plenty long for that. As an example, I got these two images with a 200mm lens. Another benefit of proximity to them is that they will give you the eye contact.
Once you accomplish that with a bit of practice, I am confident you'll be able to shot with the best small BIF shooters out there. ...Show more →
Thanks Peter! Geez... how do you do that?!?! I can never get the eyes of these damn terns. Great shots man! Just beautiful!
Well, Conrad, proximity to your target beats FL any time, and that includes 500, 600 and 800 lenses. Here is another tern caught with a 200mm lens.
In fact, on these kinds of birds I get the best results with the following lenses: 300 f/4 non-IS, 300 f/2.8 IS and 200's (f/1.8, f/2.0 and f/2.8 primes).
The 400 f/5.6 is good but often too long and too slow......larger aperture lenses allow faster/more accurate focusing which is more critical here than FL.
PetKal wrote:
Well, Conrad, proximity to your target beats FL any time, and that includes 500, 600 and 800 lenses. Here is another tern caught with a 200mm lens.
In fact, on these kinds of birds I get the best results with the following lenses: 300 f/4 non-IS, 300 f/2.8 IS and 200's (f/1.8, f/2.0 and f/2.8 primes).
The 400 f/5.6 is good but often too long and too slow......larger aperture lenses allow faster/more accurate focusing which is more critical here than FL.
Man... don't tell me I need to start lugging around my 70-200 f2.8 on my 5DII now as well. Haha!! Great shot Peter. I'll see what I can do about getting closer and/or more discipine before shooting.
Any tips on how to acquire, focus and track birds as they are zooming along? I'm assuming hours and hours of practice will help but I might as well ask you folks!
gpsphoto wrote:
Any tips on how to acquire, focus and track birds as they are zooming along? I'm assuming hours and hours of practice will help but I might as well ask you folks!
For the best and fastest results start practicing on bugs in flight.
After you master those, then any birds should be as easy for you as eating a square pie.
PetKal wrote:
For the best and fastest results start practicing on bugs in flight.
After you master those, then any birds should be as easy for you as eating a square pie.
gpsphoto wrote:
Any tips on how to acquire, focus and track birds as they are zooming along? I'm assuming hours and hours of practice will help but I might as well ask you folks!
For me, I've been shooting for 3 months now, almost every day at least an hour a day. I try to track anything that moves. And I mean anything, just for the practice. Make sure the BG is pleasing as well. It really helps the photo I've learned (thanks Peter).
I spent a LOT of time with gulls and ducks. They are everywhere and are great to practice on. Good luck!
So I went to the park yesterday after having a really bad day and tried to take a picture of me surrounded by the squirrels but it did not work out very well
