There is no substitute for practice with birds in flight. In the video below I share my suggestions for the best settings and techniques I’ve found over the years that work for me.
Your videos are always so informative. It must be fantastic to have a roost like that to practice at. A constant stream of birds coming and going will certainly fast track the acquisition of the necessary skills. Great video
Great video as usual. If you want a suggestion for a follow-up video, panning techniques with lower shutter speeds would also be really interesting to watch!
Most valuable and best advice in the first 30 seconds 👍🏽 Practive practice practice... just get out and shoot and play with settings and technique. I practice that pulling the camera up to my eye at objects while I'm sitting on the couch 😂 local mallard pond is great practice too... Muscle memory is huge! and can make the difference between getting the shot or not. Good stuff!
Greetings Ray - beautiful location! Thanks for the detailed demos with live birds in the field. Useful to me, as I finally upgraded from D850 to Z9. Sorry I missed meeting you in White Sands NM, but hope to cross paths again.
Since you were using 'animal' tracking my guess is Firmware 3.0? Tracking really locked in by firmware 4.1 IMO. Your best advice/tip for me was at the begining. It reminded me of learning how to skeet shoot. Good job!
Yes, I shot this a year ago hence animal. And yes it's exactly like skeet, it's so much easier to line up the lens with your eye out of the viewfinder to start out with! Thanks for watching and commenting!
Not sure how the TH-cam gods showed me your channel, but I really enjoyed the video and picked up some tips! Canon shooter here. I’m looking forward to seeing your other content. If you want to share, can you tell us where this spot is?
Thanks for the kind words, I'm glad you found my channel! As for the location I don't share them specifically because they are already getting pressure from a lot of photographers and since it's a nesting area more people may not be a great thing.
I love my Wimberly equipped monopod. I don’t have a tripod gimbal yet, and I’m not sure I want one. I mean, the whole point of the monopod setup is versatility.
Good video. I like full auto area now for tracking w/ bird af mode. Auto area does better than 3D for blocked shots. Bird is also much better than animal af for birds specifically, but this video may have been made before the bird af update.
Thanks for watching. Yes this was made before the bird AF update although I don't notice much of a difference between the two personally. That's cool auto works well for you in some circumstances.
Kelly, thanks! I'd say you can certainly get some shots, you would just likely be shooting in slightly brighter sunlight to get the shutter speeds you need is all. I'd recommend trying birds in flight with slower shutter speeds than you think you need as well, say around 1/1000 or 1/800 and see if you can still get some sharp images mixed in that help to keep your ISO lower.
@@RayHennessy Thanks so much for the kind reply. I've been trying. Smaller birds are so damn fast their wings are often blurry. When I use a higher shutter speed, the automatic ISO is so high the photos are usually unusable. Even with Topaz. But I still enjoy it and will keep trying. Many thanks.
I shot this about a year ago before bird tracking was out. That being said I don't notice much of a difference with it even now. I do use bird tracking pretty much all the time though but the few times I switch to animal it seems to do just fine with birds too.
Great Video
"How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice!" Good video with helpful information. Thanks.
Yup, same principal applies here like you said!
Your videos are always so informative. It must be fantastic to have a roost like that to practice at. A constant stream of birds coming and going will certainly fast track the acquisition of the necessary skills.
Great video
Thanks so much, I'm glad you enjoyed it and yes this location is quite amazing to be at!
Great video as usual. If you want a suggestion for a follow-up video, panning techniques with lower shutter speeds would also be really interesting to watch!
Thanks for the suggestion, I'll add that to my list and see if I can do a video for it!
Excellent video, straight forward tips easy to under stand. nice work.
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!
Ray this was a very generous effort to help people which is far less common than it should be. Good karma your way sir.
Thanks so much, I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Really good tips and advice!!
Thanks!
Great video Ray! Thanks so much for everything you share. I have learned so much from you and I truly appreciate it!
So glad to hear that!
Brilliant tuition as always Ray. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for watching!
Thank you for the information, Ray!!.
Sure thing
Most valuable and best advice in the first 30 seconds 👍🏽 Practive practice practice... just get out and shoot and play with settings and technique.
I practice that pulling the camera up to my eye at objects while I'm sitting on the couch 😂 local mallard pond is great practice too... Muscle memory is huge! and can make the difference between getting the shot or not.
Good stuff!
Thanks so much and that's great how you practice with it just on the couch!
With a great challenge comes great fun. ❤
Indeed!
Greetings Ray - beautiful location! Thanks for the detailed demos with live birds in the field. Useful to me, as I finally upgraded from D850 to Z9.
Sorry I missed meeting you in White Sands NM, but hope to cross paths again.
Congrats on the upgrade, that's a big change! Hopefully we can cross paths again, we'll be headed out west again this coming winter!
Since you were using 'animal' tracking my guess is Firmware 3.0? Tracking really locked in by firmware 4.1 IMO. Your best advice/tip for me was at the begining. It reminded me of learning how to skeet shoot. Good job!
Yes, I shot this a year ago hence animal. And yes it's exactly like skeet, it's so much easier to line up the lens with your eye out of the viewfinder to start out with! Thanks for watching and commenting!
Hello Ray, nice video what do you using on the monopod for attaching your lens?
Thanks, I use the Wimberly Wimberley MH-100, you can also check out an entire gear list on the FAQ page on my website
Not sure how the TH-cam gods showed me your channel, but I really enjoyed the video and picked up some tips! Canon shooter here. I’m looking forward to seeing your other content. If you want to share, can you tell us where this spot is?
Thanks for the kind words, I'm glad you found my channel! As for the location I don't share them specifically because they are already getting pressure from a lot of photographers and since it's a nesting area more people may not be a great thing.
I love my Wimberly equipped monopod. I don’t have a tripod gimbal yet, and I’m not sure I want one. I mean, the whole point of the monopod setup is versatility.
That's great you are enjoying that setup, I agree it's nice to have that mobility with the monopod!
Good video. I like full auto area now for tracking w/ bird af mode. Auto area does better than 3D for blocked shots. Bird is also much better than animal af for birds specifically, but this video may have been made before the bird af update.
Thanks for watching. Yes this was made before the bird AF update although I don't notice much of a difference between the two personally. That's cool auto works well for you in some circumstances.
@@RayHennessy if you haven’t already give bird af a chance in full auto area, that’s where the biggest improvement has been made.
@@livejames9374 I haven't I didn't realized bird af worked in full auto area, I'll check it out when I get a chance.
Great video! Thank you. What do you do if your lens is a Canon f4.5 - f7.1. Can you still grab good photos? The ISO needs to be cranked...
Kelly, thanks! I'd say you can certainly get some shots, you would just likely be shooting in slightly brighter sunlight to get the shutter speeds you need is all. I'd recommend trying birds in flight with slower shutter speeds than you think you need as well, say around 1/1000 or 1/800 and see if you can still get some sharp images mixed in that help to keep your ISO lower.
@@RayHennessy Thanks so much for the kind reply. I've been trying. Smaller birds are so damn fast their wings are often blurry. When I use a higher shutter speed, the automatic ISO is so high the photos are usually unusable. Even with Topaz. But I still enjoy it and will keep trying. Many thanks.
Wich monopod you use and movng headball on it?
I'm currently using Monopod: ProMediaGear TR42MX
Monopod Head: Wimberley MH-100
@@RayHennessy Thanks Ray. 🙂
The 10,000 hour rule is always relevant. There is no substitute for practice and experience.
Agreed!
How come you were using animal tracking instead of bird tracking on the Z 9, while animal tracking works, bird tracking works much better
I shot this about a year ago before bird tracking was out. That being said I don't notice much of a difference with it even now. I do use bird tracking pretty much all the time though but the few times I switch to animal it seems to do just fine with birds too.