Best technique/equipment for photographing hand-held birds (1 Viewer)

[sonofjon]

Hi,

I'm just starting to volunteer at a bird banding station this spring, and I am hoping to be able to take photographs of the birds we band, partly as a documentation for my self, and partly as I'd like to blog about my experiences.

Now, I was wondering if anyone here has some experience they could share, especially I am wondering what type of lens, and technique (aperture settings etc.) are appropriate. I remember bookmarking the web site of a banding station that had posted some gorgeous photos about a year ago, and they spoke about the technique they use, but frustratingly I can't find it anymore. If anyone knows of any good links I could have a look at, it would be much appreciated.

I am thinking a short tele (eg. 70-210mm) and minimum aperture number (for fuzzy background) would be a good place to start. Perhaps use a macro?

Thanks,

Andreas

 

[Mícheál]

Hi,

I'm just starting to volunteer at a bird banding station this spring, and I am hoping to be able to take photographs of the birds we band, partly as a documentation for my self, and partly as I'd like to blog about my experiences.

Now, I was wondering if anyone here has some experience they could share, especially I am wondering what type of lens, and technique (aperture settings etc.) are appropriate. I remember bookmarking the web site of a banding station that had posted some gorgeous photos about a year ago, and they spoke about the technique they use, but frustratingly I can't find it anymore. If anyone knows of any good links I could have a look at, it would be much appreciated.

I am thinking a short tele (eg. 70-210mm) and minimum aperture number (for fuzzy background) would be a good place to start. Perhaps use a macro?

Thanks,

Andreas

Hi Andreas,

I guess that 133 views and no replies means that lots of people are interested in your question, but nobody thinks they have the answer!

I would fall into that category too.

I use a simple point 'n' shoot (Contax U4R) because it is so handy and compact, but the results are very mixed, depending on good light, and ensuring the 'macro'/'flower' setting is selected to help with focus. Focus is still hit & miss at times

I have used a Canon 40D with the 17-85 kit lens, and this produced very good results but was very hard to hand-hold in one hand, while positioning the bird or the particular feature in question, such as the spread wing or tail.

I think the best option might be a DSLR and a similar lens on a tripod with a remote control, but this will be too bulky and awkward for many ringing situations.

Anyway, hope this encourages others with better suggestions.

If it doesn't, try posting the same question in one of the photography forums.

Best regards,

Mícheál

 

[Rich Facey]

Hi Andreas

I use a compact digital camera - canon powershot 520 (i think...) - as I am often out on my own and holding the bird. Its prooved very useful for getting images of moult etc to. I've tried an SLR - worked it someone else was holding the bird but found it difficult when I was on my own.

Rich

 

[sonofjon]

Thanks for the feedback.

If you are alone, a snapshot camera (or a tripod-mounted SLR) might be the way to go, however, I'm assuming someone else is holding the bird while I am photographing it. So, I would have both hands available for handling an SLR.

I haven't gotten around to photograph any birds yet. There is so much else to learn at the station as a beginner. I'm loving it!

I'll leave the thread here for a while to see if we get some more responses. Otherwise I may re-post in the photography section (and I will put a link here if I do).

Good banding,

Andreas

 

[mrsroadrunner]

I am more into photographing wildlife myself, however I am sure the same techniques are used in what you are wanting......
If I were to do something like this, with my 70-300mm lens (though you are under a controlled environment and I may even use my other lens?), I use for outdoor/wildlife. I would set it to micro, with my stabilization on of course, and set to action. I do not use the auto feature, but I guess one can?? I have yet to use my tri pod for I like action.
With my lens you need to be 5-10 feet away, zero in on your subject which should blur out the back ground so the bird that is being held by someone else stands out. You really should not worry about how many photographs you actually shoot since these cards hold over 4000 photographs.
Shoot I can not even tell you all my settings these days, for I have them the way I like them...... I have a point and shoot cannon powershot which I have gotten some good pics with when I did not need my bigger camera and lens. Though I have started leaving it at home these days.
The action setting for no one can hold a bird of any size perfectly still..... even outdoor flowers blow gently in the wind.

Anyhoo what you are planning sounds really interesting for a blog or web site!!

 

[matson]

In my experience, best is DSLR with ~50mm or so macro supported small tabletripod (i have leitz) in your chest. In early morning shutter speeds could be quite long

 

[orniodesigns]

And remember to use neutral backgrounds since you never know what you will do with the pictures. Photographing is easyest if someone else is holding the bird. Some larger birds will not fit the picture if you dont hold them further than your arm lenght.

 

[Tiger1]

Not being a really competent photographer, I use a Canon SX10 and get another bander(ringer in UK) to hold the bird.If you look at the Aussie gallery I have put a few hand held birds on there recently. They are not prize winning shots but good enough for my records.
Remember that the welfare of the bird is much more important than a good photograph. The person holding the bird should be experienced at handling birds. Some species are easily stressed so the quicker you get your shot, the better. That way, the bird can be released with nothing more than a ring and a slight loss of dignity.

Tiger1

 

[sonofjon]

Thanks for all the feedback. Here's what I ended up doing (banding seson is just over). I started out using my Canon PowerShot SX30 IS, generally in program (P) mode or sports mode, and trying to zoom in to a long focal length in order to get blurry backgrounds. Here are some shots:

http://flic.kr/p/9ScipR
http://flic.kr/p/9Sck2V
http://flic.kr/p/9SckGM
http://flic.kr/p/9SckP2
http://flic.kr/p/9Scm6P

I'm quite happy with some of these, but the auto-focus is a quite hesitant at the longer focal lengths, so I ended up throwing away a lot of poorly focused shots. I tended not to get fast enough shutter speeds, but perhaps that is due to inexperience--when fully zoomed in the lens is quite slow (f5.8) so you need to shoot at high ISO speeds, which I failed to recognize at first. However, high ISO means that noise becomes an issue. Note that the minimum focus distance when fully zoomed in (840 mm) is 1.4 meters, so you have to move back from the bird.

Towards the end of the banding season I bought my very first DSLR, a Canon REBEL T3i (600D in Europe) with the 70-300 mm tele-zoom lens. Here are a few shots:

http://flic.kr/p/9SBpgy
http://flic.kr/p/9RVvDb

This camera is much faster (focusing and frame rate) so I get many more keepers (and it has much less noise at high ISO). And I can shoot birds in flight too, which is nearly impossible with the SX30IS. For the birds in hand I generally shoot in Sports mode and in the 200-300 mm range. Minimum Focus distance at 300 mm is 1.5 m.

Another option is to shoot with a regular snapshot camera at the macro setting. I haven't tried this, but others at the station did this occasionally. This will give you shallow depth of field (perhaps too shallow?) but you need to get pretty close to the bird to fill the frame, so I think it is in the best interest of the birds to go with telelens option instead.

All images have been post-processed in Lightroom.

 

[Phil Slade]

I use a Canon 500D with standard Canon 28-50mm lens generally set at circa 40mm depending on the size of the bird and ISO as low as the ambient light will allow, aiming for F7.1 or F8 which gives a reasonable fuzz to the background. Results can be good or sometimes awful if I forget about what is in the background or if the bird isn't particularly helpful. Photoshop is invaluable afterwards, if only for cleaning up dirty fingernails. Lots of my results here.

http://anotherbirdblog.blogspot.com/