Olympus EM1.2 w/ 300 F4
I’ve mentioned before that my re-entry into photography (after many years away) came through a single, bright, but cold, day overlooking the Mississippi river. Bald eagles had congregated in a spot about 10 minutes from my home. They were looking for food in the open water around a dam, and they were plentiful! I saw a lone photographer there, and that, coupled with a few hundred eagles must have inspired me enough to go back home and grab my old camera.
After shooting for around an hour, my card was full, and my hands where frozen to the bone, so I headed for home and looked forward to going through my images.
At the time I was thrilled that I captured so many shots…good shots overall…the bird was in the frame. Most often no body parts were cropped off. The focus looked good. And I took a lot of pride in posting some of the images to Facebook.
As friends are inclined to do, everyone was very supportive and complimentary. It makes you feel good when people share their thoughts like that. But in my case, I think they were being way too kind.
A Reality Check
I don’t make a habit of suggesting you compare you images to someone else’s. You could turn into a neurotic mess, and end up frustrated, demoralized, and ultimately quit photography all together. And this isn’t a good thing.
However, you can learn from other people’s work, and in looking at bird photos from photographers I admired, I could clearly see that my images left room for a lot of improvement. It’s fine to be happy and even enthused with where you are right now…enjoy the journey you know…but also keep striving for better if you really want to improve. You have to be realistic and honest with yourself at times, even if it might hurt a little bit. So I set about to learn how to get better results with birds in flight.
Over time you learn the tricks of the trade so to speak. How to mechanically or physically get the best results for birds in flight. How to set your camera up (whatever model that my be) to optimize your chances of good results. And ultimately, to get a camera and lens combination that will keep up to the task.
Does Your Camera Equipment Set Up Well For Birds In Flight?
In the beginning of this journey into bird photography, all I had was an old Canon Rebel and a 75-300 kit lens. It was obviously outdated and lagging behind the current technology. I ended up replacing that with a Sony A65, which I enjoyed using, and I got some very nice results with it. At first I paired it with a Minolta 75-300, then a Tamron 200-500 zoom, and followed that up with a Minolta 300 F4 prime. Within a season or two I replaced the A65 with the Sony 77ii, an a900 full frame DSLR, and a Minolta 400 4.5. Although some of these lenses are kind of old, Minolta made some of the best glass in it’s day, and I think the equipment still holds up nicely today. My photographs continued to evolve and get better as my techniques, and equipment improved.<