Bigma success at last!

[tlove]

Birds in flight - my biggest 'problem' area, and one I'm determined to master (or at least come to terms with!). On Saturday I went with my E-3 and the Bigma to have another go at photographing birds in flight successfully (I've got tons of blurred shots, shots where the bird has flown out of frame etc.).

Finally, I've had some success with this Black Kite.

Just thought I'd share it with you...



Thea

[emirpprime]

Re: Bigma success at last!

Very nice shot It is a very unusual composition and works well since the bird is turning its neck around so you can see the head.
All the best,
Phil

[PeterD]

Re: Bigma success at last!

Well done Thea. Thats a good shot.

Just a tip which you may or may not know about.
Before shooting, study the flight pattern of the bird. This is usually predictable.
Its very difficult to track a bird with the Bigma at 500mm. It keeps popping in and out of view and when you try AF invariably you will loose focus if the image is quite small. If you experience this, then try the technique below.
My technique is to find and track the bird with a fl of say 200mm pressing the shutter half way to focus. Then increase the focal length in stages to 500mm refocussing at each step. It does not take long but it is a sure way to get a sharp image.

[Barr1e]

Re: Bigma success at last!

Great shot.

Regards. Barr1e

[HughofBardfield]

Re: Bigma success at last!

Well done Thea. Thats a good shot.

Just a tip which you may or may not know about.
Before shooting, study the flight pattern of the bird. This is usually predictable.
Its very difficult to track a bird with the Bigma at 500mm. It keeps popping in and out of view and when you try AF invariably you will loose focus if the image is quite small. If you experience this, then try the technique below.
My technique is to find and track the bird with a fl of say 200mm pressing the shutter half way to focus. Then increase the focal length in stages to 500mm refocussing at each step. It does not take long but it is a sure way to get a sharp image.

That is a useful tip, Peter. I'll have to try that with my 135-400mm

Excellent shot Thea!

[PeterD]

Re: Bigma success at last!

That is a useful tip, Peter. I'll have to try that with my 135-400mm

Excellent shot Thea!

Good luck Hugh. Let me know how you get on.

Cheers

[Ellie]

Re: Bigma success at last!

It is an excellent shot, very unusual too and hard to capture because there's actually so little of the bird to focus on

[Chillimonster]

Re: Bigma success at last!

Well done on this one, i know how bad it can be on the 50-200 / 1.4 so to do this on the Bigma is quite an achievement.

Chris

[theMusicMan]

Re: Bigma success at last!

Lovely shot Thea, very well captured indeed, as Chris says - especially with the Bigma. I'm still learning panning on mine!! Very little success as yet though

[tlove]

Re: Bigma success at last!

Well done Thea. Thats a good shot.

Just a tip which you may or may not know about.
Before shooting, study the flight pattern of the bird. This is usually predictable.
Its very difficult to track a bird with the Bigma at 500mm. It keeps popping in and out of view and when you try AF invariably you will loose focus if the image is quite small. If you experience this, then try the technique below.
My technique is to find and track the bird with a fl of say 200mm pressing the shutter half way to focus. Then increase the focal length in stages to 500mm refocussing at each step. It does not take long but it is a sure way to get a sharp image.

Thanks for that Peter - I'll have to give this technique a try. It is difficult to follow them though - particularly in this case as they let 7 of the birds out to fly round at the same time (I can't decide which one to follow ), and although it is very easy to lose focussing on the Bigma, my Olympus 50-200mm is useless in these circumstances (although I might try manual focus at some point). That's the main reason I was chuffed with this photo. Plenty more practice needed though - especially for the Peregrine Falcon, I have never been able to catch that one in flight .

Thanks to you all for your lovely comments and ideas .

Thea

[Yorkie]

Re: Bigma success at last!

WOW!!

Great capture of a fast moving bird with a big lens. Well done.

Adrian