Originally Posted by
farmdogfan
I suppose everybody has their own way of doing things.
I use my lens wide open allways ( you can do that with a 300 2,8 and other good lenses).
I never use manual focus,i canīt imagine shooting flying swallows, swifts and other fastmoving birds with manual focus.
The red kite is a relatively slowmoving bird, and allthough the 100-400 hasīnt got the fastest focus around, it should still manage a red kite.
Practice and practice again, that is my best advice.
I started shooting when there *was no auto focus.* We shot birds, sports, everything full manual. I am still faster and more accurate focusing by hand than the stupid auto focus system in anything but a professional body built for sports and a few of Canons 5k+ lenses. My camera never enters auto focus, in fact my new Sony a7 II only has 1960s era manual glass mounted to it. Why? Because the quality of that glass is so superior to anything being made today (optically). Auto focus is entirely unnecessary and will work against most people in this situation. Tracking a hawk in flight isn't hard, they are gliders and move relatively slowly.
However, once a bird of prey begins an attack they move far more quickly than anyone I know could track by hand and accurately keep the auto focus point over the moving bird. The camera *will* end up grabbing focus on a background object. The reason that many bird photographers use a blind and a lure is precisely because auto focus systems do not work well with quick, unpredictable movement. (movement in sports is actually very predictable and what most systems are built for). A lure/bait allows the photographer to prefocus accurately.
I'd guess an aperture of F8 should give you enough DOF to get the whole bird in focus without loosing too much light. Shooting wide open is great for portraits or macro where you want shallow DOF for drama. Shooting landscapes? Usually the dead wrong choice. And almost never the sharpest aperture for your lens. (most lenses perform best around F8 to F11, research for your lens). The lure looks in focus here, I'd maybe focus a little closer because most of your DOF is back into the bushes. Try to get the lure at the center/back of the in focus area and you'll be most likely to nail the hawk.
Chrissy, the 1D has decent high ISO performance. I'd crank your ISO up to 6400 and play. You might not get images you'd want to publish, but you'll get a lot more practice and you'll be able to shoot on grey days to perfect technique. That will give you lots of play with your shutter speed as well. Otherwise I'd say you've got the right technique, just keep practicing. It'll click. (Pun intended.)
Bookmarks