Small fast bif practice

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

A discussion on small fast bif over in general photography discussion prompted me to look back at this. I shot this a couple years ago when I first became interested in bird photography. The settings are interesting to me now...

D3 200f2 at f/4 (!) 1/5000 ISO200 spot metering 0EV (!)
21-point dynamic AF, VR-on, Auto ISO (!)

This is a little better than a 50% linear crop. Shot around noon on a bright sunny day.

Present day processing. Custom picture control to compensate for about a stop underexposure.

Oh, and the important part for me regarding small fast bif. This was the 2nd shot of a 4 shot burst, none of which had locked focus (I shoot shutter priority release).

Cheers,

-Michael-

[Dave Leroy]

I like the idea of the lens you used and the ss. Right on to catch up to these small and fast birds.

Lots of detail around head and the far wing.

I also imagine lots and lots of practice would be required to get good shots.

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Michael

The trick to these is to get them larger in frame ... difficult !! btw exposure wise you should have been around 2/3 to one over !!! .. btw with a clear bg sometimes I will go to all points !!

[Desmond Chan]

Looks sharp, good catch !