Flight: Indian Spotted Eagle (Wrong settings that worked)

[Rohan Kamath]

Hi Guys,

Indian Spotted Eagle - Immature

12th December, 2010

1/250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200, EC +2 @ 400mm
Partial Metering, Handheld.

Canon EOS 40D,
Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM

Self Critique:- I've screwed up the settings pretty badly here to get an SS of 1/250 for a flight shot. Was panning along with the flight of the bird at noon with the harsh sun directly overhead and forgot to change the ISO as he popped up suddenly. Also, I've used "One Shot" as I wasn't too clear on AI Focus/AI Servo at that time.

Would appreciate tips on how to click birds in flight under harsh light conditions(which is what we get here in Pune,India most of the times).

All C&C welcome and much appreciated.
Thanks for your valuable time. Appreciate it.


-Regards,
Rohan
__________________________________________________ _
Conservation begins at HOME... We CAN make a difference...

[Mark Young]

Lovely image here. Nice pose and composition. Lots of nice details underneath.

[Joe Brown]

Nice shot with good detail specially considering the direction of the light.

Joe

[Mital Patel]

beautiful underwing details shown here rohan. I would probably tone down the Red or Magenta on the bg. and lift green a bit to give it perfect sky tone.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Would appreciate tips on how to click birds in flight under harsh light conditions(which is what we get here in Pune,India most of the times).

All C&C welcome and much appreciated.
Thanks for your valuable time. Appreciate it.

My first tip would be to not go under ISO 400 for action photography, even in bright sun...you've seen why here with your low SS. I can't remember the last time I went lower than ISO 400 for ANY type of bird photography. You did well in going +2 EC. You don't indicate it, but I would also photograph in manual mode if the light remains the same on the subject as you don't need to fiddle with settings...(another plus with this is you can go higher than +2 EC before-hand if needed.)

Good wingspread. Comp a bit tight at the wingtips. Very good image overall.

[Rohan Kamath]

My first tip would be to not go under ISO 400 for action photography, even in bright sun...you've seen why here with your low SS. I can't remember the last time I went lower than ISO 400 for ANY type of bird photography.

Thanks so much for the advice Daniel. I'll surely keep this in mind the next time I click. Just another quick query, for BIF, is it recommended to use One shot/ AI Focus/ AI Servo and why?? Sorry for the stupid question but I'm new at this so would love to learn.
Thanks a ton.



-Regards,
Rohan
__________________________________________________ _
Conservation begins at HOME... We CAN make a difference...

[Daniel Cadieux]

You are welcome!

AI Servo is the way to go for BIF, or any other type of moving action for that matter. This mode keeps track of movement and is pretty much a must for consistent results.