During a recent visit to Bird Kingdom I decided to experiment with slow shutter speeds when photographing various birds, and a few reptiles.

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I hadn’t done any experimenting with slow shutter speeds for a while, so it was time to get in some much needed practice.

I initially decided to use a shutter speed of 1/100 to capture all of my images at Bird Kingdom.

Taking images of perched birds that are moving slightly, requires a combination of a fast enough shutter speed, focused observation, shutter release timing, and handheld technique.

Bird Kingdom was extremely busy that day with a number of busloads of children from various area summer camps, and the normal crush of folks on vacation with their children.

This made the birds, most of which are free flying, more skittish than usual.

From an experimentation standpoint this added more challenge and potential benefit to the session. Even when using a shutter speed of 1/100 it is important to try to catch a bird in a motionless moment… even if only for a split second.

After a few minutes I decided to reduce my shutter speed further and began capturing images of birds at 1/40. Even with my lens fully extended to 600 mm (efov 1200 mm) this shutter speed was acceptable as long as I observed birds carefully, and remained focused on my shutter release timing.

Practice sessions are great opportunities to play around with different shutter speeds and focal lengths. When I first acquired my M.Zuiko 150-600 mm f/5-6.3 IS I visited Bird Kingdom to do some slow shutter speed practice.

During that session I discovered that a shutter speed of 1/20 was reasonably comfortable, and with some added concentration I could get some useable images when shooting at 1/13. During this most recent session, I pushed myself a bit more and was able to successfully use a shutter speed of 1/8, although not with my lens fully extended.

When photographing perched birds at slow shutter speeds, either wild or captive, I’ve found that it is helpful to use short bursts of 4 to 8 images. This usually results in at least a couple of useable images.

Whenever I photograph birds I always use a silent shutter setting. This helps to ensure that I don’t disturb birds any more than necessary.

Waiting for the right moment isn’t just about shutter release timing to capture a bird in a still moment… but also to photograph a more interesting pose… and to take advantage of the available light.

I found some birds so interesting that I was compelled to capture an image, even if the pose wasn’t the best.

Finding brightly coloured birds up against a very dark background is always a special treat… and makes for quite dramatic lighting.

Some birds emote personalities. The one above seemed quite serious and studious as it observed what was going on in its area of view.

As I walked through the nocturnal area of Bird Kingdom I noticed an owl in one of the display areas. I had to shoot through wire mesh using a shutter speed of 1/10 at f/5 to capture the image above. Given how dark it was I was pleased with the auto-focusing performance of my camera.

Whenever possible I like to find subjects up against monochromatic backgrounds to achieve good subject separation. Concentrating on the head and neck of a bird can yield a simple, yet impactful image.

Birds often make repetitive motions. By observing these and timing our shutter release we can capture more interesting images. I always find an open beak on a bird of more interest than one that is closed.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I found the bird above absolutely captivating! Having a lens like the M.Zuiko 150-600 mm f/5-6.3 IS helps enable captures like the image above. I was 11.4 metres away, shot my lens handheld and fully extended to 600 mm (efov 1200) using a shutter speed of 1/40.

There is an old saying that a bird photographer can never have too much reach. The photograph above is a testament to that thought.

Some birds can appear playful as they look at us from unusual angles. These angles may prompt us to consider our aperture setting. The image above and the one below were both captured using a shutter speed of 1/25 with my lens fully extended to 600 mm (efov 1200 mm).

If you check the EXIF data in the two images above, you’ll see that I stopped my lens down to f/8, rather than shoot wide open as I normally do. Since the bird’s beak in these two photos was pointed towards me, I needed a bit more depth-of-field. The length and angle of a bird’s beak is something that we need to consider when choosing our camera settings.

The image above was captured using a slightly faster shutter speed of 1/80. Since the bird was at a feeder there was somewhat more pronounced movement with its beak and tongue. This prompted me to increase my shutter speed slightly. This was the only image from a short burst that was useable due to beak and tongue movement.

Sometimes we can photograph a bird when it is momentarily paused with its head is in an unusual angle. This can add some interest and eye flow to an image.

I took a number of images of this Golden Pheasant at different shutter speeds as it moved about on the lower level at Bird Kingdom. This image was captured at 1/15 with my lens fully extended to 600 mm (efov 1200), and was my slowest successful shutter speed for this particular bird.

I happened to be at Bird Kingdom at feeding time and was fortunate to capture this image at 1/40 before the Laughing Kookaburra finished its meal.

As noted earlier, I enjoy finding subject birds that are up against darker backgrounds. In this case I used -0.7 EV exposure compensation to slightly underexposure the bird and create more dramatic lighting and good subject separation.

The image above was one of the last ones that I captured at Bird Kingdom. Since the bird was very still I was able to use a shutter speed of 1/13 and thus keep my ISO setting to ISO-800.

Overall my visit to Bird Kingdom was a great way to practice my handheld technique photographing birds at slow shutter speeds. The next time I’m outdoors in a darker forest setting I will likely use a shutter speed of 1/100 for perched birds… and have no hesitation dropping down to 1/40 when needed. I may push things further if a subject bird is cooperative.

This practice session also reinforced the flexibility, functionality and value of the M.Zuiko 150-600 mm f/5-6.3 IS. On a comparative basis it is one of the larger and more expensive M4/3 lenses… but for what I do it is worth every penny that I invested in it. The performance of the Sync-IS and the added reach of its focal length range are simply superb.

Technical Note

Photographs were captured handheld using camera gear as noted in the EXIF data. All images were created from RAW files using my standard process in post. This is the 1,475 article published on this website since its original inception in 2015.

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