Bird portraits and in flight

Yesterday I spent the afternoon at Branston Waterpark trying again to get some shots for my portfolio. My aim was again small bird portraits and birds in flight.

The equipment I used was.

• Canon 550d
• Canon 100-400 lens
• Monopod

As it was a bright day I set the camera at 100 iso however as it gets darker when you are under the tree canopy I had to change this to suit and moved up to 200 iso. As the weather became more overcast later in the afternoon I then used 400 iso.

I set the aperture as large as I could at full zoom so this was f5.6 this would allow me to put the main focus on the birds and make the background blur making the bird stand out even more in the photograph. This was something i commented on earlier on one of Heather Angels photographs.

I then split my time to walking round the wooded area listening for birds then trying to locate them and then if able take some photographs. This can get frustrating as small birds are hard to spot in trees and as a rule as soon as you are about to take the shot they fly off. I also spent some time by the lake on a area called alligator point that is like a natural jetty. I spent quite a bit of time here to allow the birds to get used to me. I used this position to get the flight and action shots of the bigger birds. Again patience is key as generally the birds you are watching will do nothing and you will hear noises from birds behind you then have to turn and focus very quickly. I found it easier to stand and just keep scanning all around to catch some action or flight shots.

All in all I got some good shots again, however I need to speak to Steve on catching birds in flight as not entirely happy with these results.

To see the photographs click here.