Photos of fast moving birds/animals - technique discussion (sample pics included)

[driver8]

Anyone able to offer advice on how best to photograph rapidly moving animals ? In particular, I'm wondering on the best focus technique, especially if there is a detailed/high contrast background, which the AF will tend to latch on to. I use a Canon 40D, but I'm guessing technique is similar across the models, and all pics were with my 50mm/f1.8.

For the fruitbat pic [1/250, f4, iso100], I was snapping it at rest, munching on the tree, when it suddenly took off. I wasn't even in "continuous shooting" mode, but managed to get a few shots. As you can see, despite some pleasing detail in the bat's wings & face, the focus is on the building behind, and the animal's flight path was unpredictable :

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e317/Driver8_pics/FruitBat.jpg

For the terns, the flightpath was more predictable - they were defending a nest, and were 'dive bombing' me. In "continuous shooting" I got off plenty shots, and managed to frame quite well despite the high speed flight. But focus was well off on most of the shots as the birds flew towards me (and whizzed overhead) - these examples were taken at the start of their flight path, and cropped. You'll see from the 1st pic in the sky, the camera was able to focus better without the background distraction :

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e317/Driver8_pics/Terns1.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e317/Driver8_pics/Terns2.jpg

I did much better with these, and got my PAD from this set. I was able to focus on the sand/wall upon which the terns were nesting, and then reframe on the action.
Central-point focus, 1/350-500, f5.6, iso400, 100% crops :

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e317/Driver8_pics/TernCollage1-4.jpg

So any techniques & tips ? And post examples if you have any.

[paulsaz]

I normally just put it in AI servo mode and machine gun as many shots as I can with a fast shutter speed and hope for the best. As cunning plans go it doesn't appear to be amonst the best so I too would welcome some hints. I'd guess it's all down to panning smoothly with the bird and being calm rather than snatching at the shutter all the time.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/monpics/3515899497/" title="Hunting for Dinner by paulsaz, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3664/3515899497_10e1425c33.jpg" width="500" height="331" alt="Hunting for Dinner" /></a>

[Taq]

I usually set a min of 1/500 for freezing action shots and set the camera to servo mode.

[downhillbiker]

Yup, fast shutter speed, smooth panning, and Continuous/Servo AF. Job's a good 'un...

[Taq]

I have to admit I used to machine gun at action shots and hope I got a good one, but I found after a while one or two timed shots gave me much better results. Depends what you're taking pictures of I guess.

[Dno]

Definietly timed shots here as well. Much more satsifying, and doesn't shag the camera with continued use.

[DeadYankee]

The only time I would machine gun is to get a sequence of something really fast like a kingfisher diving

[Moldiver]

I have some questions. I notice on manual you can't set the exposure metre. I might be doing something wrong though. Say I put the shutter to 1/500, it'll take the exposure reading down to -2. is that anything to worry about?

Alternatively on AV and A-DEP modes you can't set the shutter speed, in which case do you only have the iso speed to rely on? I'm using Canon 450D

Thanks

[Dno]

If you're in manual, then you're in direct control of both aperture and shutter. If you've increased the shutter speed without touching the aperture settings, you're reducing the light that will be hitting the sensor so you're exposure reading will drop.

In that specific case, to maintain a neutral exposure you'll have to either open the aperture a little, or increase the ISO to balance the drop in light from the shutter.

Personally. if I'm shooting moving objects then I'll use shutter priority giving me control over the shutter speed, and I'll leave the camera to deal with the apeture.

[driver8]

thanks for the replies, guys - had little time online lately - I thought this thread was going to die on its arse !

Hmmmm .... so, I was rather hoping there was something obvious that I was missing !

So is it possible at all to focus on a smallish bird (tern) that is flying towards you ? Believe me, I tried plenty times over a 15min period, admittedly in 'machine gun' mode as it was moving so fast. The focus just kept missing, and catching on the background. I suppose in hindsight, a wide angle would have been better, to get a greater dof, coupled with adjustment of shutter to freeze the action whilst maintaining small enough aperture to maintain dof. Then, a 100% crop due to the WA.

I suppose I'm thinking of somehow focusing manually on a fixed point in the air, and then getting the camera to fire once something comes into the viewfinder - c'ést possible ? I'm sure I've read something about that somewhere ... :thinking:

[Taq]

Did you take all of your pics with the Canon 50mm f1.8 (ah yes according to your op)? If so the focusing motor on this lens is pretty slow compared with the USM / HSM focusing methods employed by other, more expensive lenses. It's not very suited for general action shots but that doesn't mean you won't be able to get some nice ones, just that your attrition rate might be a lot higher.
If the AF on the 40D is similar to the 30D it should be more than able to focus on fast-moving objects, it's just the lens motor needs to be able to keep up too.

Hope that helps :)
Taq

[Woz]

In the old days you used to pick a focus plane and then take your picture as the subject crossed it. Pre-focussing.
I still use this method sometimes because my 400D's not got the rate of fire of the newer cameras (besides, machine gunning is cheating!).

[silverpenguin7]

In the old days you used to pick a focus plane and then take your picture as the subject crossed it. Pre-focussing.
I still use this method sometimes because my 400D's not got the rate of fire of the newer cameras (besides, machine gunning is cheating!).
lol, it's not cheating. I agree that carefully planning the shot works better usually than just randomly firing off but there is a time and a place for everything, high speed shooting included :)


So is it possible at all to focus on a smallish bird (tern) that is flying towards you ? Believe me, I tried plenty times over a 15min period, admittedly in 'machine gun' mode as it was moving so fast. The focus just kept missing, and catching on the background.

I suppose I'm thinking of somehow focusing manually on a fixed point in the air, and then getting the camera to fire once something comes into the viewfinder - c'ést possible ? I'm sure I've read something about that somewhere ... :thinking:

Even with my D3 it can be hard to lock focus on small a fast moving target, especially one that is fairly erratic in movement, plus those flaping wings can throw the focus out too in some situations. You need to have the subject quite large in the frame to really get the focus nailed on. Also, if it is flying at you then the focus needs to be quick and accurate enough to track the head and not get distracted by the wings behind - again the target being big in frame helps. When shooting Red Kites against the distant hills and countryside of Stokenchurch both my D3 and D300 would often have trouble trying to lock on until the birds were big enough in the frame, jumping to the background if they were not. So the equipment AND conditions both play a part in how easy or difficult it is...I find BIF shots so frustrating because sometimes they seem easy to get. When I did SEOs in Milton Keynes (http://www.richardpeters.co.uk/blog/2009/03/04/short-eared-owls/) I got loads of shrp flight shots in dull conditions, yet at other times I've struggled to get sharp images :razz:

Not sure if any camera's have this feature now (should check my own actually, forgot all about it until you asked the question) but some older Nikons (for some reason I'm thinking F90?!?) I think had a feature where you could pre-set the focus and the camera would take a shot if something passed through that plain of focus.

[Woz]

lol, it's not cheating. I agree that carefully planning the shot works better usually than just randomly firing off but there is a time and a place for everything, high speed shooting included :)


Yeah, but think of the film you waste that way :D

[paulsaz]

Good to see a technique chat developing in here. We should do this more often.

My camera's just come back from a clean so I'll be off to the local bird sanctuary in the next few days for some more practive. Might even stick it in one shot mode and try and improve the panning.

Would people recommend selecting a focus point manually or is it too much work, I normally leave it on auto for action stuff but have noticed that lenses seem to focus a lot quicker if the centre focus point is selcted. Can see it being very tricky to compose to that one point though.

[silverpenguin7]

Would people recommend selecting a focus point manually or is it too much work, I normally leave it on auto for action stuff but have noticed that lenses seem to focus a lot quicker if the centre focus point is selcted. Can see it being very tricky to compose to that one point though.

I rarely us anything other than centre point because otherwise the camera has more info to proccess if it's tracking the subject for you, and that can slow it down. In fact, if I know the focus distance doesn't need to change I switch it off as it increases the FPS (on the D3 at least, from 9 to 10). There are so many settings for focus though, but I defintely get more consistant results with centre point only.

[Woz]

I've only got a lowly Canon 400D, but I almost exclusively use the centre point on that unless I'm deliberately setting something off-centre, in which case I'll generally manually select the point I want.
I don't trust the camera enough to get it right on its own. But then it is a relatively old low end SLR.

[driver8]

thanks for the photo chat !Did you take all of your pics with the Canon 50mm f1.8 (ah yes according to your op)? If so the focusing motor on this lens is pretty slow compared with the USM / HSM focusing methods employed by other, more expensive lenses.yes - all with the lowly 50mm/f1.8 - of course ! - Better lenses are not just about improved optics, but include better overall performance (including the AF). An interesting & obvious point that I'd not really thought about before. In the old days you used to pick a focus plane and then take your picture as the subject crossed it. Pre-focussing.
I still use this method sometimes because my 400D's not got the rate of fire of the newer cameras (besides, machine gunning is cheating!).aahh .. yes - so it is possible, right ? Must get my manual out ! :DEven with my D3 it can be hard to lock focus on small a fast moving target, especially one that is fairly erratic in movement, plus those flaping wings can throw the focus out too in some situations. You need to have the subject quite large in the frame to really get the focus nailed on. Also, if it is flying at you then the focus needs to be quick and accurate enough to track the head and not get distracted by the wings behind - again the target being big in frame helps.thanks for the very specific advice - good to know - and yes, I remember your awesome owl shots !I rarely us anything other than centre point because otherwise the camera has more info to proccess if it's tracking the subject for you, and that can slow it down.interesting to get such specific experiences - I'll look out for this too when I'm next using servo mode.

[Woz]

aahh .. yes - so it is possible, right ? Must get my manual out !

I might have been unclear - this is a manual process. You manually focus on a point in space and then hit the shutter at the right time. The camera doesn't really do anything for you, so the manual probably won't help.
I've never read of the 400D being able to trigger the shutter when something crosses the focus plane I'm afraid.

[Taq]

I tend to use centre-point focusing as well, but then again most of the things I take photos of are fairly large...

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/photo-equestrian/3815607904/" title="IMG_9054-1_640 by EdRyder, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2142/3815607904_433721db30_o.jpg" width="457" height="640" alt="IMG_9054-1_640" /></a>