Taking successful shots of birds in flight takes a lot of patience, and there is no single surefire technique. The task would be easier if every bird was slow, had high contrast, and appeared against a clear blue sky. But the bird you want to photograph may be flying at a high rate of speed, have a dark background, and be in low light.
A variety of factors can make photographing birds in flight challenging and frustrating, including camera capabilities, lens capabilities, bird flight styles, plumage effects, light quality, and background variations. But don’t give up — get started photographing birds in flight with these tips and best practices.
Location, Location, Location
Birds will not be found in certain areas; in others, they may be present but in the wrong places or in places with limited photo opportunities. You’ll often be able to move along the water’s edge to get different angles if you set up near rivers or lakes. This is because these areas provide a lot of food for the birds.
After finding a location, take a few moments to observe the flying birds. Position yourself on a bank or hill so that you will be as close to the bird’s level as possible. The most favorable angle is from the direct, dead-ahead side. You don’t want to be shooting up from below or down from above.
Locating locations requires a lot of trial and error. Many of the places you visit will be losers, but it’s worth it because sometimes you’ll find a place you’ll return to again and again. Once you’ve scouted enough locations, you’ll have a decent list of these hotspots.
Plan Your Shot
Wind and Sun at Your Back
Whenever you plan to shoot birds in flight, try to position yourself so the wind and sun are both at your back. Flying birds generally fly upwind, and when they are angled toward you, they make for the best images: underwings showing and heads leading. Birds fly slower into the wind, so it’s easier to track them. Having the sun at your back will illuminate birds much better.
Predict Flight Paths
Knowing bird behavior will allow you to identify places where birds fly in good numbers, giving you many opportunities to practice and create the perfect picture. Getting as many shots off as possible is the key to successful flight photography. When hawks migrate, do they follow a particular ridge line? When the Brown Pelicans or Canada Geese are heading back to roost, do they always fly over the same spot?
Use Clean Backgrounds
You will get the best autofocus performance when you shoot against a background with little contrast, like the sky or still water. In the event that this isn’t an option, you should remember that the further away the background is, the better. A forest that is distant from the bird is much better than one that is right behind it.
Camera Settings
Shutter Release Focusing
Back-button focusing is generally recommended, but shouldn’t be used for birds in flight photography. Shooting flying birds requires continuous focusing, so holding two buttons at once is not as comfortable as holding one button for focus and one for shutter release.
Focus Limiter
You should set your focus limiter to ignore close objects. In this way, part of the range of your lens can be ignored by the autofocus system, resulting in faster focusing.
Image Stabilization – Off
Flight photography does not require image stabilization since shutter speeds are fast. When it’s on, it may make it more difficult to track subjects and may slow down the lens.
Preselect Camera Settings
The best way to capture images of birds in flight is to use Manual exposure mode and pre-set your aperture and shutter speed. This usually means shooting wide open with the lens’ maximum aperture and using an ISO that allows for the fastest shutter speed.
Ideally, your shutter speed should be 1/2500, 1/3200, or even higher if light permits. For darker conditions or slower subjects, you may need to drop to 1/1600 or 1/1250 if necessary, but be aware that sharpness may be reduced. For more depth of field and a better chance of getting all of the parts of the bird in focus, close your aperture from wide open to f/5.6 or f/8 if you can use optimal shutter speed and there is more light available. Also, make sure that your camera is set to the highest frame rate as well.
If you shoot in Manual mode in even lighting conditions, the background will change but not the exposure of your bird. Picture yourself taking a shot of a Sandhill Crane flying across some farmland against a backdrop of a shaded forest. When using an automatic exposure mode, this would throw your exposure off and may also decrease your shutter speed. When you set your exposure to Manual, nothing changes, and as long as the bird remains in the same light, it will maintain a proper exposure against any background.
Consider using the sky as your exposure base when shooting birds against white or extremely light skies, and do not overexpose any part of the bird. Consider metering the sky and opening it up to two or two and one-third stops.
Autofocus Settings
Use a single autofocus point when photographing birds that are larger in the frame so you can place it exactly where you want it on the bird. Whenever this becomes too difficult, try selecting one of the camera’s focus point patterns. In general, Nikon’s Group-Area AF (GrP) works well for birds in flight. Using Canon cameras, expand the single autofocus point to a 9-point pattern or switch to Zone Autofocus.
It is also possible to customize the autofocus settings on current Canon cameras. For birds in flight, create a custom setting of –2 tracking sensitivity (–1 or 0 can work better against clean backgrounds), +2 Accel/Decel Tracking, and +2 AF Point Auto Switching.
When it comes to keeping locked onto subjects, particularly when they fly against busy backgrounds, the Tracking Sensitivity setting (called Blocked Shot AF Response on Nikon cameras) is the most useful to play with. If the background is busy and problematic, the AF Tracking Sensitivity should be set lower – more delayed.
Keep Bird In Frame and In Focus
Prefocus
When possible, prefocus your lens so that it is within range of where the flying bird will be picked up-otherwise, it might be difficult to see the bird in the viewfinder, and autofocus might not find it quickly.
You can prefocus by pointing the camera at some vegetation or the ground at about the distance you expect to pick up the bird. After that, raise the camera and wait for the bird to come into range before enabling autofocus.
Turn Your Whole Body
Spread your legs slightly and bend your knees slightly in an athletic stance. Hold the camera firmly with your right hand, extend your left hand to support the lens, tuck your elbows into your body, and follow the bird with your body instead of your arms or head.
Bump Focus
When you have an approaching bird in the viewfinder, “bump focus” will improve your chances of tracking focus successfully. With bump focus, you do not hold the autofocus button (the rear button or the shutter button) continuously while tracking the subject. Rather, you press it intermittently as your subject approaches, keeping the bird almost in focus. This minimizes the possibility that your focus will drift off the subject and focus somewhere else. Once the bird is within range, fully press and hold the focus button.
Shoot and Follow Through
When you start clicking the shutter, it’s easy to lose your subject. Focus on keeping the subject in the frame and following through.
Conclusion
To become proficient at photographing birds in flight, you need a lot of practice. Don’t hesitate to practice on common subjects near home whenever you can, regardless of whether you want the images or not. As you practice, you’ll become more familiar with different autofocus settings, focus points, and patterns, and the results you can achieve by using them.
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