This article shares a selection photographs created as a one click image run using Bird AI in combination with Pro Capture L.  The 10 photographs featured in this article were created in late September 2021 as part of an intensive practice exercise.

Each of us have our preferred way of creating photographs of various subject matter. There are many ways of accomplishing that task, depending on the shooting options provided by our cameras. Much like playing a guitar chord, there are often a number of ways to get to the same photographic destination.

As regular readers will know, I’ve been experimenting with my E-M1X’s Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking since it was introduced. Part of that experimentation involved combining Bird AI with the use of Pro Capture L. This combination has become my preferred way to photograph birds-in-flight. And, like playing a guitar chord, this approach may not suit other E-M1X owners.

There are a number of reasons why I prefer using Bird AI in combination with Pro Capture L for birds-in-flight.

1. I can pan with a bird-in-flight and adjust my composition while I’m simultaneously in the process of storing images in temporary memory.
2. If my objective is to capture a specific in-flight behaviour I can wait until I see and record that behaviour in temporary memory before committing those images to my memory card. This makes image captures more efficient and can save culling time in post.
3. Pro Capture L provides me with an audible beep when it acquires focus which provides an additional confirmation of the ‘green box’ visual signal the E-M1X generates when in Bird AI mode.
4. I can capture a run of 10 images with one shutter click which makes my shutter release timing less complicated. I can adjust the number of ‘one click’ images by changing the number of Pre-Shutter Frames in the Pro Capture L settings.
5. I rely on Bird AI acquiring good focus on the subject bird and never worry about having to keep a cluster of AF points on a subject bird-in-flight.
6. I find the combination of using Bird AI with Pro Capture L to photograph birds-in-flight to be pretty much a stress free experience.

So, let’s have a look at this one click image run of 10 photographs of a gull coming in to land in amongst other birds on a cement pier. All of the images are shown as full frame captures without any cropping. You’ll notice that the last image is framed a bit differently. This was likely caused by me inadvertently moving my lens downward as I fully depressed my shutter release to commit these 10 images to memory.

NOTE: Click on images to enlarge.

I use Bird AI in combination with Pro Capture L so frequently that I have it programmed as C1 in my Custom Modes. My E-M1X is set to C-AF +TR, in Manual mode, with Auto-ISO. I shoot using a frame rate of 18 frames-per-second. My Pre-Shutter Frames are set to 10 in Pro Capture L.  My Frame Limiter is turned off. This allows me to hold the shutter release down if I want to continue capturing photographs after my initial one click image run.

I usually only capture 10 consecutive images with my one click image run. Rather than capturing a long, extended run of images, I typically take 2 or 3 short one click image runs of 10 images. These are timed to coincide with specific bird in-flight behaviours.

Technical Note:

Photographs were captured handheld using camera gear as noted in the EXIF data. Images were produced from RAW files using my standard process.  All images are displayed as full frame captures without any cropping. This is the 1,118 article published on this website since its original inception in 2015.

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