This article discusses a ‘stopping for nature’ exercise and shares a selection of photographs captured during a recent walk at LaSalle Park in Burlington Ontario. All of the images in this article were created handheld using the E-M1X’s Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking technology.
Some owners of E-M1X cameras may not fully appreciate how well Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking works with a range of wildlife other than birds. In my experience as long as there is a good, discernable eye visible in my composition, and I’ve used a single AF point correctly, Bird AI locks on beautifully. We’ll have a look at a couple of examples of non-bird subjects at the end of this article.
I find it very useful to periodically practise ‘stopping for nature’ when on forest walks or on trails. This exercise involves using ‘soft eyes’ focus to better notice small movements in trees, brushes and along the ground. This technique is especially helpful with enhancing peripheral vision. Once some unusual movement has been detected, the objective is to stop and slowly examine my surroundings in order to spot the bird or animal that caused the observed motion.
Once the bird or animal has been located, I then remain motionless to encourage it to start to behave in a normal fashion. This sometimes takes several minutes of patience. While I’m waiting for the bird or animal to present itself well enough for a photograph, I slowly raise my camera to chest level to prepare for my shot.
Capturing images from my ‘stopping for nature’ spot creates creative challenges in terms of how to best compose the photograph and showcase the subject bird or animal. On occasion I may adjust my physical position relative to the bird or animal to get a better shooting angle. Most often than not I shoot from my original ‘stopping for nature’ position.
I was fortunate that there were a few kinglets on the trail during my ‘stopping for nature’ exercise at LaSalle Park. This gave me a number of image opportunities. Let’s have a look at some of the closer up images of pine warblers and kinglets that I was able to capture.
NOTE: Click on images to enlarge.
As I went further down the trail I noticed other kinglets so I ‘stopped for nature’ again and captured a few more photographs.
When doing this exercise sometimes I’m faced with birds that are a bit more distant. This produces opportunities to create some images that include more of the bird’s environment as we can see in the next three photographs.
Chickadees are often found along the trail at LaSalle Park and I had a few opportunities to create some images of them at varying distances from my shooting positions.
When doing a ‘stopping for nature’ exercise I have no hesitation to photograph very common birds like sparrows and wrens. They still represent good opportunities to practice noticing motion with my peripheral vision… then locating and photographing the birds.
As mentioned at the beginning of this article the E-M1X’s Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking works very well with other types of wildlife as long as the subject’s eye is clearly visible. And, a single AF point has been properly used. Here is a photo of a squirrel where Bird Detection AI nailed auto focus.
Our last two images in our ‘stopping for nature’ posting are of a chipmunk captured with Bird Detection AI.
Doing this ‘stopping for nature’ exercise on a periodic basis helps develop increased sensitivity to movements around a photographer and helps to increase response time. These improvements lead to more image opportunities.
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. Crops are indicated. This is the 1,078th article published on this website since its original inception.
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The first 3 shots are Pine Warblers.
Thanks for the clarification Brian… I have adjusted the article.
Tom
I share your ‘stopping for nature’ approach. I also share your appreciation for the EM1x for this style of bird photography. Where it pays off for me is working the shot after I’ve spotted the subject. Not being attached to a tripod & having very handholdable, compact, & balanced lenses (300 & 150-400), let’s me (for lack of a better description) ad hoc a carefully choreographed dance with the subject. Taking lot’s of shots with different compositions that lower my hit rate 🙂 I’ve found that the Bird Detection AI allows me to work a lot of different compositions faster than moving the single focus point with the joystick. I use it to lock on the eye then change how the rest of the bird is framed.
Thanks for sharing your experiences Steve. I completely agree that Bird AI allows a photographer to work faster and more efficiently. As you know, some small birds are continually on the move and trying to move an AF point takes too much time causing missed opportunities.
Tom
I feel birds are much more confident there than they are around me in Italy. I rarely have the chance to photograph a chickadee in a 6-meters round, when I wander woods and marshes… Do you use any sort of camouflage (ghillies or sort of)?
I love this approach, but with subjects in the 30-50 feet range it’s almost useless
Hi Leonardo,
I can’t speak for Steve and his experiences. What I can share is that sometimes I do need to stand motionless for long periods of time. On occasion I bring a short photographer’s stool with me and sit still for protracted periods with my head tilted downward. I try to only raise my head once my camera is up to my eye. Sometimes direct eye contact with small birds will spook them. Although it hasn’t happened often, I have had a few occasions when small birds have landed on my hat or lens as I’ve been patiently waiting on a forest trail for them to become comfortable with my presence. I don’t wear any kind of camouflage, but my clothing tends to be solid colours or muted patterns in grey, brown and green tones.
Tom
In my quest to move more into the M43 life, I am finding that my hit rate seems to be lower than in my FF.. This is something I see mentioned frequently on the nature forums, I view. It seems that that is a very focused comment from the Sony and Canon shooters. When I came up in photography, it was always thought to be if a person came away with one great shot a day , it was a good day. Do you feel that you given up any hit rate success, or is this something you just accepted and moved on from. Love your posts.
Hi Steve,
Moving to any new system will involve at lot of learning and experimentation. I’ve never paid any attention to ‘hit rate’ regardless of the camera that I’ve owned. This has always seemed to be such a strange thing to do, and to focus one’s attention on. It strikes me as an approach that leads to mediocrity and a lack of creativity. I tend to push my gear very hard, and when I’m out in the field I fully expect to miss a lot of images. If I don’t miss shots then I know I haven’t challenged myself and pushed my gear sufficiently.
Using Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking did take time and adjustment. In terms of capturing images that are in my mind, the E-M1X is the best camera that I’ve ever owned. My approach is like Reggie Jackson at the plate. All I care about are the difficult shots that I can create with my gear… like Reggie hitting a record number of home runs. I couldn’t care less about what I miss. Just like Reggie Jackson striking out. He’s remembered for his batting prowess and getting clutch hits in key games. Few people think of Reggie Jackson as holding the record for the most strikeouts.
I know that I have absolutely captured all kinds of images that I would have never gotten with other cameras that I’ve owned… including previous full frame gear.
Tom