Photographing Birds in Flight

Trying to get great pictures of birds in flight can be very challenging for the wildlife photographer. You will require a great deal of patience but the results can be breath taking. Here we give you a few basics hints and tips to help turn a good photograph into a great one worth of a canvas print to hang in your home.

Subject

Bigger birds and birds in groups are easier to photograph than small singular animals. Gulls, geese, herons and swans are a good subject for the inexperienced bird photographer as they move more slowly and are bigger in size. A public place such as a park is a good place to start as the birds are used to people being close to them. Monitor your subjects for a while, watch their flight patterns and try to memorise their behaviour. This will help you track them with fluidity and less jerking and quick camera movement which may result in blurred photographs. If you need to get closer do so very slowly and take photos along the way so the sounds of your camera becomes more familiar to the bird.

Red eye can be solved either pre or post production. Photoshop editing and other suite packages will have tools to edit and remove the red eye effect. You can avoid red eye by not using a flash, staying away from reflective surfaces which could bounce back the light from the flash, using more natural light, or having your subject not look directly at the camera. If you have taken a great shot what has been ruined by red eye, pop it over to us at info@photoincanvas.co.uk or by post at Watermill Studios, Middlebridge Street, Romsey, Hampshire, SO51 8HL and we'll fix it up for you, for free.

Lighting

Light in flight photography is very important. Try to position yourself with the Sun behind you. Try to stand with the light behind you and the birds coming towards you or crossing in front of you. Birds will generally fly into the wind as it is less work than trying to fly against it. This should help you determine which way your subjects will go and better your chances of success. As with nearly all photography, sunrise and sunset may well produce the most dramatic results.

Equipment

You'll need a tripod with a ball head to allow free movement for your wildlife photography. You need to be able to rotate your lens as mature is unpredictable at best. Which lens to use is largely a matter of opinion, but it should be fast, with high speed auto focus to give you the best chance of capturing your shot.

Above all patience and practice will give you the best bird in flight photographs. Experiment with light, position, locations and equipment to find the look and feel you wanted. Don't feed the birds to bring them closer to you, get to know your subject by reading about them, studying them, and spending time around them. The more you learn their behaviours to better prepared you are to get great photographs.