In the last few weeks, I have been trying to take photos of birds in flight. The location was the surrounding rice fields near my parents' home in Sta. Rosa, Nueva Ecija.
I've checked a few tutorials online and using a Canon 55-250mm lens which I paired with my Canon 1300D body, I was able to capture a few photos that I thought were pretty decent.
It was my first venture into bird photography and the first thing I noticed was that I needed to use a high shutter speed for the camera. A high shutter speed allows the camera to freeze a moving object. In doing so, I needed to bump up the ISO, while trying to increase the aperture. It was very tricky.
I also set the camera into burst mode so that I can take multiple photos in one click of the shutter. By doing this, there were many instances that the camera had to go on "Busy" mode. I felt that I was already pushing the limits of my Canon 1300D camera.
Anyway, it was a fun experience. The bonus was that I did not need to venture far. My parents' house has a small shed. About two feet away is a low wire fencing separating the shed from the surrounding rice fields.
I was actually having coffee with my parents when I noticed the white birds flying by.
There was a light mist that morning and the Whiskered Terns were already busy flying over the surrounding rice fields. The birds were flying low trying to catch bugs on the tips of rice which were now a few inches tall and bursting with unripe grains. The birds were dive bombing for an early morning meal of beetles, moths and other critters.
After observing the birds, I thought that all I needed to do was step closer to the surrounding fence and aim the camera. Fortunately, the fence was just a few steps from a shed near my parents' house.
It was not that simple. I had to take hundreds of shots before coming up with a few decent (fairly sharp) photos. I had to fumble with the settings, as I tried to set up the camera.
I also had to do a lot of panning shots, as I tried to follow the flying birds with the camera's viewfinder before taking the photos.
I've read somewhere that what I was doing was "spray and pray" photography. This means I was just shooting away and hoping to catch something. This was the case most of the time.
However, there were instances that I had to guess which way the bird was heading (flight patterns), before pointing the camera to that direction and then shoot away.
So yes, most of the time I was hoping to get lucky, but there were times that I needed to do a bit of thinking when it comes to shooting the subject and the frame that I was hoping to get.
Also, a special thank you to the World Art of Photography photography group for helping me identify the birds Here are a few photos:
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