How to photograph BIRDS IN FLIGHT!

Learn how to capture those striking images of birds in mid-flight or taking off.

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Have you been wondering how to photography birds in flight? Don't worry. In this video I will share the right settings and techniques to photograph birds in mid-flight, as well as birds taking off.

In fact, this video is one of 36 lectures that make up my best-selling online course on Udemy called Wildlife Photography for Beginners and Amateurs, for which you can enrol by clicking on the link above. The course not only covers the best settings for wildlife photography, but also equipment, light, composition, creativity and even animal behaviour.

Photographing birds in flight is not easy. The first tip I have, is to visit places where you stand a good chance of seeing flying birds. It could be a place the birds roost for the evening, like a heronry; a nesting site, like on the edge of a cliff on the banks of a riverbed; or at an underground eye-level hide overlooking a waterhole, where the birds come to drink. Rather than driving around hoping to randomly find birds in flight, it's better to give yourself a sporting chances at these kinds of places.

Once you have found birds in flight, it's crucial that you choose the right camera settings. First of all, switch over to Shutter Priority where you choose the shutter speed and the camera chooses the f-stop. If it's a large, slow-flying bird, like and eagle or vulture, you need around 1/1000sec to freeze it in flight. If it's slightly smaller, it will probably fly faster, in which case you need a faster shutter speed. For tiny birds that fly very fast, I typically use my fastest shutter speed of either 1/4000sec or 1/8000sec, depending on the camera that I use. Choose Auto ISO to control the exposure.

Focussing is also very important when photographing birds in flight. If the bird is already flying, choose an automatic focus mode (AI Servo for Canon users and AF-C for Nikon users), so that you can track the subject as it flies past you. Don't use a single focus point, but rather a small cluster that will lock onto the bird more easily.

If, however, you are photographing a static bird that you expect to take off, like an eagle in a tree or a sparrow next to water, switch lock focus on the bird (One Shot for Canon users and AF-S for Nikon users), which we are aiming to capture the moment it spreads its wings.

If you are in Shutter Priority at 1/8000sec, the camera will probably choose your lowest f-stop (f/4 or f/5.6), but if you're close to your subject, this might give you a depth of field that is too shallow. If that's the case, switch to Manual Mode and choose a larger f-stop (f/8 or f/10), so that you have a bigger margin for error when the bird takes of.

Last, but not least, you have to choose a fast burst mode (high continuous) so that you can shoot like a machine gun, giving you the best chance to capture the bird with its wings in the perfect position.

Even if you choose good settings for birds in flight, you still have to compose the image well. Make sure you leave enough space around it when you compose the shot, otherwise you may very well chop off wingtips when it takes off.

I hope this video helps you to photograph birds in flight when you're next out in the field or on safari. Remember that it's only one of MANY helpful lectures that can take your wildlife photography skills to the next level. Simply click this link to enrol in my online course: https://bit.ly/WildlifePhotographyCourse

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