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.
Category Archives: Photography Techniques
BIF Fast Response Practice
This article discusses a BIF fast response practice exercise that I do on a periodic basis as well as sharing some recent images captured during one of these practice sessions.
Adding Context With BIF
There are many styles of bird photography and adding context with BIF can make images of small birds in-flight more interesting. This article features 15 consecutive photographs from a Pro Capture H image run of a downy woodpecker taking flight, and discusses adding context with BIF photography.
Technique and Shot Discipline
This article shares some new images of ducks in flight and discusses technique and shot discipline. Unlike many of my photography field sessions that are focused on practicing a specific technique, my recent outing was to practice my shot discipline. This type of practice session always yields significantly more keepers than I can possibly use, and I ended up deleting many hundreds of perfectly useable files.
Flock Behaviour
This article discusses how, when birds demonstrate flock behaviour, it can be leveraged to create an abundance of bird-in-flight photographs. I was recently at LaSalle Park in Burlington and had the opportunity to capture a good assortment of images of ducks in flight. A small group of ducks demonstrated flock behaviour in a fairly predictable manner which created the opportunity.
Why I Prefer Zoom Lenses
This article discusses a number of reasons why I prefer using zoom lenses rather than shooting with prime lenses. I appreciate that the choices we make with our camera gear are intensely personal, so this article is not intended to convince anyone else to adjust their approach. The camera gear that works for one photographer may not be a fit for the needs of another.
Purposeful Underexposure
As photographers we sometimes execute a purposeful underexposure in order to create a special mood or artistic interpretation in our images. This article discusses this approach and provide a few sample images. Continue reading Purposeful Underexposure
Using Teleconverters for BIF
This article discusses using teleconverters for BIF and some of the practical considerations that come into play with this type of photography. Many people love to photograph birds and really enjoy capturing images of birds-in-flight (BIF). Using long telephoto lenses can be a challenge. This is compounded when teleconverters are added to the mix.
All of the photographs featured in this article were captured handheld in about 2 hours and 15 minutes during a visit to the lift bridge in Burlington Ontario on Tuesday of this week.
Measuring Background Blur
Measuring background blur can be an important tool when using M4/3 and other smaller sensor cameras, especially for photographers who previously used full frame gear. As humans we often fall into patterns of behaviour, some of which can be counterproductive if we have not adapted to a new situation.
BIF Practice at 1600 mm
This article discusses an approach I use for BIF (birds-in-flight) practice at 1600 mm equivalent field-of-view. While I don’t usually photograph birds-in-flight using this long focal length, I do find it beneficial to periodically practice my handheld technique and eye/hand coordination at this very long focal length.