Thinking like a bird isn’t being a bird brain… but rather attempting to put ourselves inside the thought process of an avian subject. Observing a bird in an openminded manner sometimes allows us to gain a deeper sense of what it is going to do. What is making it anxious. Or aggressive. Or feeling connected to a decision that it is pondering.
Category Archives: Birds in Flight
Purple Martins Using Bird AI
This article features a collection of new images of purple martins using Bird AI Subject Tracking and Pro Capture L. All photographs were captured handheld during a recent visit to Ruthven Park in Cayuga Ontario.
Benefit of Custom Modes
This article discusses the benefit of custom modes and illustrates this with 18 recently captured consecutive handheld images of a kingfisher in flight.
A few days ago I went to Hendrie Valley early in the morning to see if I could capture any images of birds-in-flight. This season has not been particularly productive so my level of optimism was modest.
Bird Photography Fundamentals
There are four bird photography fundamentals we can keep in mind that help add some interest, action, and drama to our images. Rather than camera gear based fundamentals, they relate to the kinds of behaviours that birds exhibit. To state these four bird photography fundamentals as politely as possible these include flying, feeding, fighting, and fornicating. I like to call these the “four F’s” of bird photography. Of course, this doesn’t mean that we should stop photographing perched birds.
Terns at Grimsby Harbour
This article features a number of new images of terns at Grimsby Harbour with most of the birds in-flight. This has been an unusual spring birding season with some locations like Hendrie Valley not being very productive.
Practical Limits
Working within practical limits is something that we all face on a regular basis, regardless of the camera gear that we may own. Rather than blindly accept what other people think the practical limits of specific piece of photographic equipment may be, it is important for each of us to do our own experimentation. This enables us to establish what we consider to be the practical limits of various components of our integrated camera systems based on our photographic style, image use, and our individual skill sets.
Comfort and Ergonomics
When using camera gear for extended periods of time, the importance of comfort and ergonomics can become a critical factor. This month marks the third anniversary of the purchase of my first E-M1X. I loved the camera so much that six months later a bought a second one. My love affair has only deepened over time.
Oriole Leaving Pond
Yesterday I had my first ever opportunity to photograph a Baltimore Oriole leaving our backyard pond after taking a bath in it. We usually have a few weeks during the late spring when Baltimore Orioles visit our backyard. They regularly feed at our hummingbird feeders and will also consume orange sections that my wife puts out for them. Neither my wife or I had ever previously seen them take a bath in the pond, as they tend to be quite skittish birds.
High ISO BIF Test
This article features a selection of handheld photographs from a high ISO BIF test that I did a couple of days ago at Biggar Lagoon Wetlands in Grimsby.
High ISO is a relative term and defined differently by many photographers. Since I often shoot my E-M1X up to ISO-6400, I consider ‘high ISO’ as values of ISO-8000 and above. The test images in this article range from ISO-10000 through to ISO-20000.
Make Swallows In Flight Easy
This article discusses how to make photographing swallows in flight easy through the use of technique and technology. Earlier this week I went out to the Biggar Lagoon Wetlands for about three hours with the intention to photograph swallows in flight. Suffice to say I had a very productive morning. After doing a quick cull through my resulting images I ended up with almost 900 useable images that I would realistically consider processing in post.