Pedro does it again, 2nd Year!!

[pedro maia]

In the meantime:

 

#146, 22/4, Sand martin, Paço de Arcos

 

 

Again plenty of room for improvement.

[pedro maia]

The Sand martin pictures are from right now during my after lunch stroll, I took a couple of "decent" pictures (by my standards) fo a House martin:

 

 

I like this one:

 

 

Once again the Booted eagle showed up but still distant:

 

[TonyQ]

@pedro maia

Martins and swifts are really difficult to get photos of. They are small birds that fly very fast and move around fairly erratically.

I imagine (based only on my own experience ) that everyone who posts photos of such birds in flight has a very high failure rate. I regularly have photos with only part of a bird in shot, birds out of focus, and photos that need a lot of cropping. I think practice does help, and taking lots of photos  does help. But I still have a high reject rate for such birds!

I think your house martin and sand martin are indeed decent.

[xelas]

Ah, Canon ... in this case better if @michael-ibkgive you his settings, as I am not that familiar with Canon lingo.

 

At Nikon it is AF-C (continues AutoFocus) with 25 active focusing points. I am overexposing at +2 fo compensating the brightness of the sky. Shutter speed 1/2000 sec. Maximum f-stop (to my lens that is f/6.3) when birds are away, and f/8 when they are bigger and come closer, to compensate for possible focusing on the tip of the wing (f/8 has deeper depth of field than f/6.3). Shutter release independent of the focus achieved. AutoISO.

 

Try to pre-focus on the bird, keep it in focus, and shoot in bursts of 5-10 photos. Training makes champions.

[michael-ibk]

My success rate with Swallows is maybe one in 50 (or less) Pedro - that´s really tricky stuff, and the conditions need to be perfect for getting decent shots. And a camera with good autofocus capabilities is paramount. Not sure about the 800, with my 7D for Swallows I go for AI Servo (really important), Burst Shots ("H"), also overexpose (depending on conditions) + 1 or 1,5 at least, shutter as fast as possible (1/2000 is often too slow for Swallows with my camera) and maximum aperture as well. Autofocus - almost futile if you choose single point, if you have a zone mode or at least more active focus points which will track the object that works best - but only against a clear background.

 

Try to be in front of the bird with your focus points, ie. where it should be in the next split-second. I find that way my success rate is higher than when I try to actually keep the focus points exactly on the bird -they are so fast one never manages anyway.

[pedro maia]

41 minutes ago, TonyQ said:

@pedro maia

Martins and swifts are really difficult to get photos of. They are small birds that fly very fast and move around fairly erratically.

I imagine (based only on my own experience ) that everyone who posts photos of such birds in flight has a very high failure rate. I regularly have photos with only part of a bird in shot, birds out of focus, and photos that need a lot of cropping. I think practice does help, and taking lots of photos  does help. But I still have a high reject rate for such birds!

I think your house martin and sand martin are indeed decent.

 

My worries aren´t really with martins and swifts, I really think that a few monthes ago I was taking better BIF shots, at least sometimes, but that may be just an impression.

[pedro maia]

40 minutes ago, xelas said:

Ah, Canon ... in this case better if @michael-ibkgive you his settings, as I am not that familiar with Canon lingo.

 

At Nikon it is AF-C (continues AutoFocus) with 25 active focusing points. I am overexposing at +2 fo compensating the brightness of the sky. Shutter speed 1/2000 sec. Maximum f-stop (to my lens that is f/6.3) when birds are away, and f/8 when they are bigger and come closer, to compensate for possible focusing on the tip of the wing (f/8 has deeper depth of field than f/6.3). Shutter release independent of the focus achieved. AutoISO.

 

Try to pre-focus on the bird, keep it in focus, and shoot in bursts of 5-10 photos. Training makes champions.

 

I try to do that, most times it doesn´t work .

[pedro maia]

29 minutes ago, michael-ibk said:

My success rate with Swallows is maybe one in 50 (or less) Pedro - that´s really tricky stuff, and the conditions need to be perfect for getting decent shots. And a camera with good autofocus capabilities is paramount. Not sure about the 800, with my 7D for Swallows I go for AI Servo (really important), Burst Shots ("H"), also overexpose (depending on conditions) + 1 or 1,5 at least, shutter as fast as possible (1/2000 is often too slow for Swallows with my camera) and maximum aperture as well. Autofocus - almost futile if you choose single point, if you have a zone mode or at least more active focus points which will track the object that works best - but only against a clear background.

 

Try to be in front of the bird with your focus points, ie. where it should be in the next split-second. I find that way my success rate is higher than when I try to actually keep the focus points exactly on the bird -they are so fast one never manages anyway.

 

Thanks for the advices, I use shutter speeds above 1/2000, I´ll have to work on the rest and I´m also aware of my camera limits.

[pedro maia]

Another go with the terns, I just can´t get a good picture when they enter the water, in flight this was my best effort:

 

[pedro maia]

For some reason I still did have this one in my BY:

 

 #147, 23/4, Common moorhen, Caxias

 

 

 

 

[michael-ibk]

Very cute!

[shazdwn]

Too cute, especially the second shot 😍

[pedro maia]

I thought I might have a shot on the EBC of the year contest..

 

 

Then it showed a bit more

 

 

And today even more

 

#148, 26/4, Eurasian jay, Carcavelos

 

I´m sure I´ll get better shots but it´s good to keep the count running.

[Dave Williams]

The numbers are coming along nicely!

To add my thoughts on small birds in flight 

1) I wish I got a keeper rate of 1 in 50! @michael-ibk

2) Walk away before you throw your gear down in disgust...you'll only regret the damage later.

3)The camera body you use does help but until the recent addition of a MK3 my 1DX was as good as Canon had and I struggle still.

4) Use all your focus points, you can't hope to track a small fast subject with only a few AF points.

5) A shorter lens can be an advantage as it's easier to hand hold and the angle of view much wider than a big telephoto lens.Wait until the bird gets closer then hit the shutter button and rapid fire

 

but most of all pick the right spot  and the right conditions. Bright sunlight and a clear background ( sky or a uniform colour like grass or sand) will help the camera pick out the subject you are trying to track, finding somewhere that the birds are constantly flying around like a bridge means you don't have to change positions and the birds comer closer but best of all choose somewhere that's a bit windy so the birds hang in the wind and don't go quite so fast, again a bridge often produces pockets of still air and at the same time has windy conditions too.

[pedro maia]

Thanks for the tips @Dave Williams.

[michael-ibk]

9 hours ago, Dave Williams said:

I wish I got a keeper rate of 1 in 50! @michael-ibk

 

Ok, add a couple of 100s to that Dave. 

 

9 hours ago, Dave Williams said:

Use all your focus points, you can't hope to track a small fast subject with only a few AF points.

 

Hm,. that might depend on the camera model? With my 7D the keeper rate is definitely higher with "Zone mode" (About a third of all Points) than with all IMO.

[shazdwn]

Interesting. I only ever use a single focus point - will need to give multiple for BIF a go

[Dave Williams]

I only use multiple AF points for things that move quickly and when I can't keep up with them. They work very effectively sometimes, others they struggle to lock on. If the subject is larger you might find the AF point that's locked on has chosen the wrong part of the body, the nearest wing tip instead of the head etc etc but give it a try. Any part in focus is probably better than none!!

[Galana]

Damn. Read this too late for today's Sparrowhawk.

My problem will be switching between the two settings. I have to be on 'spot' for all the skulkers in the bush to avoid pin sharp leaves and yet another EBC blur. But I will give it a go when out of the bushes.

[PeterHG]

Sound advice, Dave and I agee on the keeper rate

17 hours ago, Dave Williams said:

choose somewhere that's a bit windy so the birds hang in the wind and don't go quite so fast, a

Absolutely. With Swallows I try my flight shots in those conditions late afternoon or early evening, so both the wind ( mostly west here) and the sun are in my back. For Swallows  I mostly use all focus points and otherwise mainly zone.

[Peter Connan]

10 hours ago, michael-ibk said:

 

Ok, add a couple of 100s to that Dave. 

 

 

Hm,. that might depend on the camera model? With my 7D the keeper rate is definitely higher with "Zone mode" (About a third of all Points) than with all IMO.

 

I believe this has to do with the camera's processor. The more powerful the processor (the one driving the AF functions if there's more than one), the faster it can evaluate what it happening under each focus point and decide which it should be focusing to.

 

I firmly believe this is one of the primary differences between for example the 1Dx and the 5D or the D5 and the D850, or the Alpha 9 and the Alpha 7R. The smaller (in megapixels, not size) the sensor, the more calculation power is available to drive AF.

 

But maybe this is wishful thinking, because I have never even held any of the above cameras in my hands, never mind actually trying to shoot swallows with them...

[Dave Williams]

The other thing I failed to add was that adding a TC does slow down AF acquisition too.

 

The difference in the number of AF points, and coverage across the screen in different camera bodies probably makes a difference too. The new Canon R5 claims to recognise Cats,Dogs and Birds and apparently uses a Samsung sensor. Looking forward to hearing more on that.

[pedro maia]

I was counting on boat trips to get the sea birds but it´s probably not going to happen so this morning I went for the first time this year to Cabo Raso, near Cascais, it´s at sea level so the perspective is ok but birds tend to pass a bit far from shore, so it´s difficult to take acceptable pictures, only managed to get 2 new species but that´s 2 more for the bag.

 

First an EBC, these fellows didn´t came any closer:

 

#149, 28/4, Balearic shearwater, Cabo Raso, Cascais

[pedro maia]

#150, 28/4, Northern gannet, Cabo Raso, Cascais

 

 

Many gannets going north but mostly far from shore, this was the closest group and still only got some details with a good crop.

[pedro maia]

#151, 28/4, Common wood pigeon, Parque Urbano doJamor