Photo Stories
Proving that you only need skill, not the latest kit or lenses, to shoot birds in flight
South African birds in flight and graceful water droplet photography
For this ongoing project I wanted to photograph the beautiful birds of South Africa while also showing off their wings in full display with lovely, clean backgrounds. Something that is not always very easy here in Africa.
Some of this set was taken on the west coast of South
Africa in the St Helena Bay area. But I then moved to Hoedspruit, in the Limpopo Province, which presented me with a new set of challenges as we were surrounded by the dense bushveld!
I don’t have the latest gear nor the fastest lenses – I use the Canon EOS 400D and 1D Mark II N, with the Sigma 50-500mm f/4.5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM – which makes the
Birds usually deposit a dropping just before they get ready to take off – so that is the time to get ready!
challenge greater – but the success is all the sweeter. Because I am fairly tiny, handholding the big Sigma lens takes some doing.
I am a twitcher and birding is as much a part of me as breathing – but so is photography. The heron shot was taken on a moving boat, while the others were taken from a vehicle (still handholding, though).
For the most part I use an f-stop of f/7.1 and shoot in Aperture Priority mode. This provides sufficient depth of field as well as a fast enough shutter speed to catch the in-flight shots. It helps, though, that here in South Africa we have an abundance of light, so you can stop down the aperture a bit more than you may do elsewhere.
Mostly I take the time to scour an area for resident birds. They do have their favourite perches and feeding spots; for example, poles alongside roads where there are grain crops. These are great for birds of prey, who sit in wait for mice and other rodents that feed on the crops.
Then it’s a case of regularly visiting those spots, waiting for the beautiful blue skies and then practicing catching the birds in flight. They take off into the wind, always. Another little tip I was taught is that they usually deposit a dropping just before they get ready to take off – so that is the time to get ready!