Capturing birds in flight is exhilarating and gratifying. They are graceful in the air and glide beautifully past our lenses. But they are fast, change direction without warning, and are in constant motion. So what do you do?
Set your camera on its rapid burst mode. Check your owner's manual on how to do this. Rapid burst is a setting that enables you to fire off several shots in quick succession. Different camera bodies have different speeds, and most cameras give you two choices - either more shots or fewer shots with each press of the shutter button. Always select the setting with more shots since that will fire your shutter at a faster rate.
Regardless of how many shots your camera will fire with each press of the shutter, listen carefully and remove your finger from the shutter button after it has fired off 3 or 4 shots in a row. On many cameras, if you shoot more than that in succession, the camera's buffer will fill and you will be unable to take more shots until the camera has processed all images and is again ready to shoot.
This beautiful skimmer sailed past me several times in a row, first in one direction and then the other. I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time to capture the action. I took many shots, some better than others. This is one of the better ones.
TECHNICAL DATA
Shutter Speed 1/2000 sec. Aperture f/8. ISO 800. Lens: Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II with Canon 1.4x III extender for an effective focal length of 520mm. Camera: Canon 7D Mark II. Handheld.
TODAY'S QUOTE: "The desire to fly is an idea handed down to us by our ancestors who...looked enviously on the birds soaring freely through space...on the infinite highway of air." -Wilbur Wright
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