Thank you Paul, lots of useful tips! I have used a dot sight (PGD Tracker) with good results, especially for small bir4ds like swifts and swallows. It allows you to rapidly get subject in the frame.
Thank you. I just looked at some demonstrations of dot sights. One thing jumped out at me. When you look through the camera viewfinder (as opposed to the dot sight) you see if you have gained focus or not, and you see if you maintain focus or lose focus. And this is very important in many circumstances, especially when a bird gives you an extended opportunity because it circles back or hovers. Or it could just do some type of maneuver where you lose focus. When this happens I will let up on the halfway press of the shutter button very quickly so I do not have the camera search too far, and I will recenter the bird and attempt to gain focus, successfully most of the time. Obviously, I would not be able to do that if using a dot sight. I can see where it would be very useful for small birds, where you practically never get an extended opportunity, so I would like to try it for those opportunities.
Good tip to pre-focus at distance. Why use a tripod if your shooting at high shutter speeds > 1/3000 second? What is the maximum ISO you shoot with your Canon R5? Electronic or first curtain shutter? Prime 600mm lens or zoom lens? I shoot hand-held and use a zoom lens. I found locking focus at lower level then zooming in to 600-800mm easiest with incoming birds. Also the wind at the back of the photographer is idea because birds typically take off and land into the wind. I shoot Canon R5 and R7 with first curtain shutter, speeds sometimes as low as 1/1000 sec for gliding short eared owls, harriers, and swans. Ideally a non-sky background with birds flying against the landscape. A camo pop-up blind has been very useful for close in-flight shots as birds do not see photographer motion in the shadow inside the blind. Camo popup blinds are relatively inexpensive and very comfortable sitting in predawn waiting for sunrise.
Thank you. There are a few reasons for using a tripod, as opposed to being hand held, in many circumstances: Your shoulders would get too tired if you had to constantly hold them up when deciding which bird is going to cross your shadow line at the right distance (during periods of good opportunity with many birds in the air), and when you have to decide late (and close to your shadow line) which bird to photograph you would have to bring your gear up to your eye very quickly and that would likely scare the hawk/duck and make it veer away. Also, the tripod and lens further break up the human form, from the bird's perspective, and this is especially important with hawks in cloudy conditions. The max ISO I use is 5000, but I use 3200-4000 most often. I use electronic shutter and a prime 600 f4 is lens. I don't quite understand what you are saying in regard to zooming, but I have done experiments with another photographer's zoom lens and found that zooming while trying to focus simply never works. I did not cover the case when a bird is coming straight at me, but for larger birds it is relatively easy. In that case I still pre-focus at the appropriate distance for that bird to be about 1/4 frame when it flies into focus, and I attempt to gain focus at that point, which is after it becomes less blurry while I track it without much necessity for panning. Gliding owls can be captured as low as 1/250 sec if you pan smoothly. But for small birds like a Kestrel turning quickly, say when one hawk dive bombs it in midair, the action becomes explosive, and a very high shutter speed is necessary to get images without blur on the wings. I prioritize shadow line as the direction that I shoot when there is full sun or the presence of my shadow, regardless of wind direction. I cover gaining focus on flying birds in this video, but for take-offs and landings that happen on or near shadow line, under conditions with the wind at my back, it is great for capturing nice images. Camo pop-up blinds are very useful when there is not too much wind, and I use them. But I prefer wearing camo when making sure the background that the flying bird sees in similar to my camo, and I stay close to the background cover, if possible, especially for hawks. It works great and remember that the bird is looking into the sun at you (under sunny conditions) so it cannot see you. This allows freedom to turn your head in all directions to monitor where birds might be coming from and what species is coming.
Thank you, Todd. That video would be complicated because a number of factors are involved, the most important being the weather, especially for the migrating hawks and ducks. So, I watch the weather forecasts carefully. The best times are in the spring during the typical migration window for hawks and ducks, on a day (or more - the following day, etc) when the winds shift to warmer south winds, after an extended stretch of days (7+) with colder north winds. Then there will always be a lot of subjects moving. Both hawks and ducks are funneled to northern Michigan - the hawks avoiding water and migrating just inland from coastlines, and certain species of ducks migrating along the coastlines, often about 20-30 yards away from the shoreline. The puddle ducks will show up at ponds in the region. I look for photographic spots where the morning or evening low sunlight is unobstructed by trees, and I can blend with the background the birds see when looking in my direction. I have used Google Earth to look at the geography of coastlines and ponds for the potential for finding those spots. I must go there to confirm. I have found numerous spots that way, and I got to test them when the weather conditions were right, during the right migration window. There will be subjects with any south winds, but for the spectacular days I covered the best scenario.
I use the Canon mount adapter, so my R5 can be used with my older version of the Canon 600 mm IS lens. But I also use black gorilla tape to hold the lens to the adapter extra tight. The reason for that comes from my experience. I do a lot of flight photography, even out of my van window, and the metal end of the lens where it attaches to the camera (or in this case, the mount adapter) becomes worn if it is not supported by tape like this. It will become so worn that it needs to be replaced.
Thank you Paul, lots of useful tips! I have used a dot sight (PGD Tracker) with good results, especially for small bir4ds like swifts and swallows. It allows you to rapidly get subject in the frame.
Thank you. I just looked at some demonstrations of dot sights. One thing jumped out at me. When you look through the camera viewfinder (as opposed to the dot sight) you see if you have gained focus or not, and you see if you maintain focus or lose focus. And this is very important in many circumstances, especially when a bird gives you an extended opportunity because it circles back or hovers. Or it could just do some type of maneuver where you lose focus. When this happens I will let up on the halfway press of the shutter button very quickly so I do not have the camera search too far, and I will recenter the bird and attempt to gain focus, successfully most of the time. Obviously, I would not be able to do that if using a dot sight. I can see where it would be very useful for small birds, where you practically never get an extended opportunity, so I would like to try it for those opportunities.
Good tip to pre-focus at distance.
Why use a tripod if your shooting at high shutter speeds > 1/3000 second?
What is the maximum ISO you shoot with your Canon R5?
Electronic or first curtain shutter?
Prime 600mm lens or zoom lens?
I shoot hand-held and use a zoom lens. I found locking focus at lower level then zooming in to 600-800mm easiest with incoming birds. Also the wind at the back of the photographer is idea because birds typically take off and land into the wind.
I shoot Canon R5 and R7 with first curtain shutter, speeds sometimes as low as 1/1000 sec for gliding short eared owls, harriers, and swans.
Ideally a non-sky background with birds flying against the landscape.
A camo pop-up blind has been very useful for close in-flight shots as birds do not see photographer motion in the shadow inside the blind.
Camo popup blinds are relatively inexpensive and very comfortable sitting in predawn waiting for sunrise.
Thank you. There are a few reasons for using a tripod, as opposed to being hand held, in many circumstances: Your shoulders would get too tired if you had to constantly hold them up when deciding which bird is going to cross your shadow line at the right distance (during periods of good opportunity with many birds in the air), and when you have to decide late (and close to your shadow line) which bird to photograph you would have to bring your gear up to your eye very quickly and that would likely scare the hawk/duck and make it veer away. Also, the tripod and lens further break up the human form, from the bird's perspective, and this is especially important with hawks in cloudy conditions. The max ISO I use is 5000, but I use 3200-4000 most often. I use electronic shutter and a prime 600 f4 is lens. I don't quite understand what you are saying in regard to zooming, but I have done experiments with another photographer's zoom lens and found that zooming while trying to focus simply never works. I did not cover the case when a bird is coming straight at me, but for larger birds it is relatively easy. In that case I still pre-focus at the appropriate distance for that bird to be about 1/4 frame when it flies into focus, and I attempt to gain focus at that point, which is after it becomes less blurry while I track it without much necessity for panning. Gliding owls can be captured as low as 1/250 sec if you pan smoothly. But for small birds like a Kestrel turning quickly, say when one hawk dive bombs it in midair, the action becomes explosive, and a very high shutter speed is necessary to get images without blur on the wings. I prioritize shadow line as the direction that I shoot when there is full sun or the presence of my shadow, regardless of wind direction. I cover gaining focus on flying birds in this video, but for take-offs and landings that happen on or near shadow line, under conditions with the wind at my back, it is great for capturing nice images. Camo pop-up blinds are very useful when there is not too much wind, and I use them. But I prefer wearing camo when making sure the background that the flying bird sees in similar to my camo, and I stay close to the background cover, if possible, especially for hawks. It works great and remember that the bird is looking into the sun at you (under sunny conditions) so it cannot see you. This allows freedom to turn your head in all directions to monitor where birds might be coming from and what species is coming.
These are great Paul. Was wondering if u could do a video sometime on how and where or the technique u use to find these subjects?
Thank you, Todd. That video would be complicated because a number of factors are involved, the most important being the weather, especially for the migrating hawks and ducks. So, I watch the weather forecasts carefully. The best times are in the spring during the typical migration window for hawks and ducks, on a day (or more - the following day, etc) when the winds shift to warmer south winds, after an extended stretch of days (7+) with colder north winds. Then there will always be a lot of subjects moving. Both hawks and ducks are funneled to northern Michigan - the hawks avoiding water and migrating just inland from coastlines, and certain species of ducks migrating along the coastlines, often about 20-30 yards away from the shoreline. The puddle ducks will show up at ponds in the region. I look for photographic spots where the morning or evening low sunlight is unobstructed by trees, and I can blend with the background the birds see when looking in my direction. I have used Google Earth to look at the geography of coastlines and ponds for the potential for finding those spots. I must go there to confirm. I have found numerous spots that way, and I got to test them when the weather conditions were right, during the right migration window. There will be subjects with any south winds, but for the spectacular days I covered the best scenario.
Are those extension tubes.
I use the Canon mount adapter, so my R5 can be used with my older version of the Canon 600 mm IS lens. But I also use black gorilla tape to hold the lens to the adapter extra tight. The reason for that comes from my experience. I do a lot of flight photography, even out of my van window, and the metal end of the lens where it attaches to the camera (or in this case, the mount adapter) becomes worn if it is not supported by tape like this. It will become so worn that it needs to be replaced.