HOT SHOT #1 The hide Focus limit

EXPOSURE 1/4000 sec, f/4, ISO800 Lens 180-400mm f/4

Our Apprentice says… Chris told me that, once committed to a dive, the ospreys would hit the water with speed, then flounder for a while before flying off again. He told me to resist the urge to zoom in close when they’re in the water, and instead leave lots of space around them for when they take off as their wing spans are 5ft wide. I kept the 180-400mm lens at 180mm, and the bird landed with an almighty splash with water droplets filling the empty space in the frame. The splash is a visual representation of the sheer power of these birds.

The usual hide etiquette is to keep quiet, speaking only in hushed tones, and not making sudden movements with your lens. But Chris also recommended that Ed poke his lens all the way through the hole in the mesh at the front of the hide, as sitting the lens too far back from the opening will restrict free movement and shooting angles. Precision focusing is so important in bird photography, so we need to make sure the Nikon and its lens focuses quickly on our fast-moving subjects. I asked Ed to change the Focus Limit switch on the lens barrel to between six metres and infinity. We knew our subjects weren’t going to be any closer to us in the hide than this, and that limiting the focus range would prevent the lens from ‘hunting’ when searching for the bird, thus speeding up focusing.