Generally speaking, in a very low light like we\'ve had today, outdoor bird photography doesn\'t work very well for me. (I guess, if one uses a \"better beamer\", which I don\'t, or gets real close to an animal, good shots are possible too.)
For example, trying to shoot strongly irridescent birds such as Buffleheads just can not be done, because it is sunlight which ignites the irridescence. Granted, one can bring out some colours in the photoshop, but those images tend to look, well, photoshopped.
BIF photography gets even trickier because of camera\'s strong AF dependance on good light and high contrast. Obviously, it helps to have a large, contrasty and/or relatively slow fly-by target, such as Canada goose or Bald eagle.
What I like to do on days like this one is shoot head-on pijuns in flight. It\'s a good sport, plus it provides a badly needed drill for my reflexes and arm steadiness. In order to reduce the handicap, I am often using one of the best lenses for such shooting conditions: 200mm f/2 IS. You may take my word for it, even lenses like 300 f/2.8 and 400 f/2.8 stutter badly on this target type in low light, never mind anything f/4 or slower.
Here is one shot like that from today. I estimate the bird was doing 30-35mph at that time, which is a very moderate cruise speed for pijuns. Sometimes I manage to get a nicer background than that. The lens IS was turned off, f/2, 1/1000 sec, ISO 100, manual exposure mode.
What you see is almost FF, i.e., the bird was no more than 12 ft distant. The DoF is quite thin, and unfortunately the sharpest focus is on the base of the bird\'s beak, and not on the eyes.
My keeper rate with shots like that is 1-2%. But I still keep doing them.
Disclosure: Non-living bait was used in the creation of this photograph.
Generally speaking, in a very low light like we\'ve had today, outdoor bird photography doesn\'t work very well for me. (I guess, if one uses a \"better beamer\", which I don\'t, or gets real close to an animal, good shots are possible too.)
For example, trying to shoot strongly irridescent birds such as Buffleheads just can not be done, because it is sunlight which ignites the irridescence. Granted, one can bring out some colours in the photoshop, but those images tend to look, well, photoshopped.
BIF photography gets even trickier because of camera\'s strong AF dependance on good light and high contrast. Obviously, it helps to have a large, contrasty and/or relatively slow fly-by target, such as Canada goose or Bald eagle.
What I like to do on days like this one is shoot head-on pijuns in flight. It\'s a good sport, plus it provides a badly needed drill for my reflexes and arm steadiness. In order to reduce the handicap, I am often using one of the best lenses for such shooting conditions: 200mm f/2 IS. You may take my word for it, even lenses like 300 f/2.8 and 400 f/2.8 stutter badly on this target type in low light, never mind anything f/4 or slower.
Here is one shot like that from today. I estimate the birtd was doing 30-35mph at that time, which is a very moderate cruise speed for pijuns. Sometimes I manage to get a nicer background than that. The lens IS was turned off, f/2, 1/1000 sec, ISO 100, manual exposure mode.
What you see is almost FF, i.e., the bird was no more than 12 ft distant. The DoF is quite thin, and unfortunately the sharpest focus is on the base of the bird\'s beak, and not on the eyes.
My keeper rate with shots like that is 1-2%. But I still keep doing them.
Disclosure: Non-living bait was used in the creation of this photograph.
Generally speaking, in a very low light like we\'ve had today, outdoor bird photography doesn\'t work very well for me. (I guess, if one uses a \"better beamer\", which I don\'t, or gets real close to an animal, good shots are possible too.)
For example, trying to shoot strongly irridescent birds such as Buffleheads just can not be done, because it is sunlight which ignites the irridescence. Granted, one can bring out some colours in the photoshop, but those images tend to look, well, photoshopped.
BIF photography gets even trickier because of camera\'s strong AF dependance on good light and high contrast. Obviously, it helps to have a large, contrasty and/or relatively slow fly-by target, such as Canada goose or Bald eagle.
What I like to do on days like this one is shoot head-on pijuns in flight. It\'s a good sport, plus it provides a badly needed drill for my reflexes and arm steadiness. In order to reduce the handicap, I am often using one of the best lenses for such shooting conditions: 200mm f/2 IS. You may take my word for it, even lenses like 300 f/2.8 and 400 f/2.8 stutter badly on this target type in low light, never mind anything f/4 or slower.
Here is one shot like that from today. Sometimes I manage to get a nicer background than that. The lens IS was turned off, f/2, 1/1000 sec, ISO 100, manual exposure mode.
What you see is almost FF, i.e., the bird was no more than 12 ft distant. The DoF is quite thin, and unfortunately the sharpest focus is on the base of the bird\'s beak, and not on the eyes.
My keeper rate with shots like that is 1-2%. But I still keep doing them.
Disclosure: Non-living bait was used in the creation of this photograph.
But I still keep doing them. 
