Birds in Flight Photography
It’s not too hard to find advice on how to improve your birds in flight (BIF) photography. Most of that advice tends to be technical in nature, and while I’ll likely repeat some of those points, my primary aim in this article is to go beyond the technical and describe how you can improve the art of bird photography. Let’s jump in.
Find the Birds
BIF photography can be very challenging, even with modern cameras with sophisticated autofocus (AF) systems. The keeper rate is typically pretty low, and as a result the best places to perform BIF are where there are heavy concentrations of birds. Here are my go-to sites:
Beaches. Sometimes you have to go no further than the parking lot at a beach, where gulls and terns are often flying about. Shorebirds also tend to congregate on the beach or a sandbar, offering lots of opportunities.
Colony sites. During nesting season, birds tend to form colonies to protect their young. Birds come and go to the colony, bringing in nesting material or going for a bite to eat.
Marshes, rivers, and tidal plains. These sites, typically wildlife refuges, are particularly best at low tide when food is more accessible.
Bird feeders. With a bird feeder, you need go no further than your backyard. Birds using these feeders typically have repetitive flight paths between a perch and the feeder.
Fishing piers. Attracted by the lure of an easy meal, piers can be great places to photograph pelicans, gulls, egrets, and herons.
Landfills. It’s not a glamorous location, but haven’t you noticed there are always birds flying around a landfill? Be sure to get permission from landfill management so they know who you are and what you’re doing. Photograph from a safe location.
Tricolored Heron photographed at a colony site. Nikon Z6II with tripod-mounted VR 600mm f/4G lens at ISO 800, f/4.0, 1/1600 sec.
Set Up Your Shot
Put the sun and wind at your back. Like airplanes, birds almost always take off and land into the wind so they can get maximum lift. In the mornings, easterly winds are ideal so that incoming birds provide a perfect front-lit situation. In the afternoon, west winds work better with afternoon light.
Identify predictable flight paths. Watch the birds for a few moments to see how the birds are flying. Which direction are they coming from? Where are they landing? Are they circling before landing?
Shoot against clean backgrounds. Not only will you get a better-looking picture, but your AF system will work better with little contrast.
Royal Tern. In this photo, a Royal Tern is fully lit with the sun on my back. The bird was making its approach to land on a sand dune at a colony site. The dark blue sky is the result of an incoming thunderstorm. Handheld Nikon Z9 with AF-S Nikkor 500mm f/5.6E PF lens, ISO 450, f/5.6, 1/3200 sec.
Tripod vs. Handheld
I’ve seen pros give advice that you must do it this way or the other, but quite honestly I use both methods. If I am using a light setup and on the move, then I will handhold. If I am using a heavy setup and will be stationary, I’ll attach the lens to a gimbal head on a tripod. Whatever you choose to use, your goal is to have freedom of movement so that you can keep things smooth and steady.
If you are handholding, you need to use proper technique to maximize your chances of success. Keep your elbows tucked in at the sides to help brace the lens. When turning, twist at your waist rather than moving your arms. Also, if you’re using a telephoto lens with a lens foot, rotate that foot to the top of the lens so that you’re cradling the lens in your hand rather than awkwardly grasping the foot. This also puts your hands in a better position to turn the manual focus ring and AF buttons if necessary.
Keep the Bird in Frame and Focus as you Shoot
It is easy to lose your subject when firing the shutter, so try to ignore everything else and keep the subject in frame and follow through. Acquire the bird in the viewfinder as far away as possible. If panning, don’t stop moving when you press the shutter button (this is something I would do when I was a beginner). Remind yourself to keep pressing the shutter button as you pan.
Mirrorless cameras have the advantage over DSLRs when it comes to panning. When you press the shutter button on a DSLR, the shutter blocks the view which makes it harder to keep your subject in the viewfinder. Mirrorless cameras, on the other hand, don’t have mechanical shutters so when you press the shutter button you can still see your subject. I don’t know about you, but for me being able to see a fast-moving subject when trying to keep it in a small viewfinder is pretty darn important. Another win for mirrorless.
Put your knowledge of bird behavior to use
Birds often exhibit some type of behavior before flight. Many birds defecate, some get noisy (making calls), some squat and get low, and others start shifting around. Your field experience as a birder can make a big difference. When you see these behaviors and you expect the bird to take off, increase your shutter speed and zoom out (if using a zoom lens) so that you don’t clip the bird’s wings in the photo.
Roseate Spoonbill. Prior to taking off from the tree, this Roseate Spoonbill defecated - a typical sign of a bird about to take flight. Handheld Nikon Z6II with Nikkor VR 200-500mm f/5.6E lens, ISO 1000, f/5.6, 1/4000 sec.
Composition and Perspective
The three most important elements of achieving a pleasing BIF photograph is technical competence (e.g., subject is in focus, proper exposure, etc.), composition, and good use of light. Let’s talk about composition.
Try to provide space in the frame for the bird to fly or look into. If a bird is looking or flying in a particular direction, you want more empty space on that side of the photo. But don’t overdo it by moving the bird all the way over to one edge leaving too much of the frame empty.
Clipped wings and legs are undesirable. Again, not a hard a fast rule, but in general you want to photograph the whole bird.
As with most wildlife photography, the general rule is to have the eye of your subject sharp. For me, if the eye isn’t sharp, the photo gets deleted.
Maintain good perspective. Photographing the underside or tail of the bird as it flies away is generally undesirable. Also, don’t photograph birds looking straight up at the sky. These are often the least dynamic and uninteresting shots.
Follow the rule of thirds…most of the time. There will be times where placing the bird dead center makes sense too, especially when conveying symmetry.
Understand the basic elements of art and how they can be used to create more beautiful BIF photographs. Understanding line, shape and form, space, color, and texture can make a powerful impact on your photographs. Many times I will convert an image to monochrome to simplify it and emphasize shape, form, and lines.
Natural diagonal lines created by the wings convey a feeling of movement. You see this in old paintings of ships in storms or in photos of buildings where diagonal lines are used to pull the viewer into the image.
Curved lines can convey energy. Soft shallow curves recall the curves of a human body and often have a pleasing, sensual quality and a softening effect on the composition.
Patterns give a sense of rhythm to a photograph. Look for patterns in flocks of birds. Odd numbers of birds are more pleasing than even numbers.
If multiple birds are in your photograph, you’ll want to focus on the bird closest to you. If you focus on a bird further away, the blurry birds in the foreground will be distracting.
Royal Tern. Note the right wing and body of bird along the lower horizontal third of the frame, while the left wing makes a 90 degree angle on the right vertical third. Handheld Nikon Z9 with AF-S Nikkor 500mm f/5.6E PF lens, ISO 360, f/5.6, 1/2500 sec.
Magnolia Warbler. Cropped so that the natural line of the wingspan flows from upper left corner to the right lower corner of the frame. Diagonal lines help convey movement. Monopod-mounted Nikon Z9 with Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 lens VR S, ISO 1600, f/6.3, 1/2000 sec.
In conclusion, practice, practice, practice. If you are a beginner, start off with something large and slow (e.g., pelicans and ospreys) and work your way down to smaller, faster birds (e.g., warblers and hummingbirds). Smooth panning will often be the key factor in increasing your success rates. Get the bird in the viewfinder early while the bird is far away and flying towards you. Be mindful of light and wind so you are in the right position. And remember, make art, not snapshots.
