Do you have to be psychic?

phil1963 (e2 Member)

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14 Apr 2012 - 4:08 PM

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Today and yesterday i have been taking pics of birds and i was wondering how some of you have captured birds with their wings open as they land i am just not quick enough i guess (old age) Its not as if there was a steady stream of birds landing so i could prepare myself ready for one landing.

MikeRC (e2 Member)

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14 Apr 2012 - 5:10 PM

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Quote: some pics have an element of luck sometimes too

....like this one for instance


http://www.ephotozine.com/user/robthecamman-169538/gallery/photo/duck-22799526

glsammy

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14 Apr 2012 - 8:00 PM

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As above, fast continuous mode, AI servo and shoot!

Lining up!

brian1208 (e2 Member)

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14 Apr 2012 - 8:53 PM

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For me its a case of studying the behaviour of my subjects (birds, bees, Kitsurfers etc) and being able to predict what is about to happen, then pressing the shutter at the right moment. I've never been able to get on with "machine gunning", even when I used a 7D it never got the moment I wanted.

The funny thing is that I seem to see the same behavioural cues for a kitsurfer about to jump as a bird about to take off etc (must have an odd mind )

Its not a method for everyone but if you are interested in behavioural pattern recogniton and are willing to take some time (took me 6 months to nail bees in flight!) its fascinating

(there are a few examples in my website, here for example and here )

monstersnowman

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14 Apr 2012 - 9:14 PM

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I guess a mix of people shooting fast bursts and also some that were amazing luck. Remember that even though it seems many people are capturing these great action shots using a mixture of luck and burst mode there will be many many more like you that have also been frustrated in their attempts. Good luck though :o)

BigRick

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15 Apr 2012 - 8:44 AM

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start with a sunny day and f8, continuous focus, and just watch them for a while, get used to them (whatever your subject is) and see how they land/take off, then start tracking one in the air with continuos focus working, WITHOUT taking a shot, get used to how the tracking focus works, and THEN start taking pictures.

You will find it easier to concentrate on how the focusing etc works, if you are only thinking about one thing at a time.... when you know how the focusing is going to behave, THEN you can think about how the picture will come out.

I chose a slow flying easy subject as a test for my new lens, and used the above method first, as every lens is different and i wanted to see how it behaved BEFORE i took any shots. Then i took three shots, and this was the middle one.

phil1963 (e2 Member)

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15 Apr 2012 - 11:57 AM

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Thanks for your info and help guys......been out this morning and took your advice