How I Photograph Birds in Flight

[@ryancampbell1151]

That point on practice is exactly what I thought when out in the field. I thought to myself, there's no way its possible to learn this even through 1000 hours of youtube tutorials.

[@jimphilpott902]

"How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice!" Good video with helpful information. Thanks.

[@RayHennessy]

Yup, same principal applies here like you said!

[@usernamemykel]

Yes, but sadly, all the good old famous delis in the area are gone from what I understand...

[@pokharel_puru]

Brilliant video and explanations, for dslr folks there is 3D af and also auto area af for relatively cleaner backgrounds

[@RayHennessy]

Great addition, in my experience it only worked well against say a clean sky or something like that but it is there like you said!

[@MartinsNaturePhoto]

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!

[@RayHennessy]

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll add that to my list and see if I can do a video for it!

[@robertlawrence7958]

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

[@RayHennessy]

Thanks so much, I'm glad you enjoyed it and yes this location is quite amazing to be at!

[@anthonystack9570]

Excellent video, straight forward tips easy to under stand. nice work.

[@RayHennessy]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!

[@roychavez519]

Thanks.

[@Slewis71119]

Great Video

[@earlteigrob9211]

A 1x red (+green) dot rifle scope makes child’s play of tracking birds. The key is a scope rail make specifically for your camera so that there is zero play in the mount. We almost never look through the view finder any more. It’s simply crazy how easy it is to track birds now.

[@RayHennessy]

I've seen people use those, how do you compose an image with that scope? I've always also wondered how it always lines up with the focus point with a subject at different distances? Glad it's working out for you!

[@joebecker3107]

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!

[@RayHennessy]

Thanks so much and that's great how you practice with it just on the couch!

[@stevemartin239]

Brilliant tuition as always Ray. Thanks for sharing.

[@RayHennessy]

Thanks for watching!

[@kevinswilson66]

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.

[@RayHennessy]

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!

[@PhilT993]

Really good tips and advice!!

[@RayHennessy]

Thanks!

[@Andy.Garcia]

Great video Ray! Thanks so much for everything you share. I have learned so much from you and I truly appreciate it!

[@RayHennessy]

So glad to hear that!

[@uaebifvideo5472]

Thank you for the information, Ray!!.

[@RayHennessy]

Sure thing

[@billvinson7859]

With a great challenge comes great fun. ❤

[@RayHennessy]

Indeed!

[@19Photographer76]

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!

[@RayHennessy]

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!

[@CarlosBenjamin]

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.

[@RayHennessy]

That's great you are enjoying that setup, I agree it's nice to have that mobility with the monopod!

[@Kellysher]

Not sure how the KZbin 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?

[@RayHennessy]

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.

[@livejames9374]

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.

[@RayHennessy]

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.

[@livejames9374]

@@RayHennessy if you haven’t already give bird af a chance in full auto area, that’s where the biggest improvement has been made.

[@RayHennessy]

@@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.

[@hansvanleen]

Hello Ray, nice video what do you using on the monopod for attaching your lens?

[@RayHennessy]

Thanks, I use the Wimberly Wimberley MH-100, you can also check out an entire gear list on the FAQ page on my website

[@jdflyer7377]

Thank you for the video! Where, location, did you record this video?

[@RayHennessy]

I'm glad you enjoyed it! It's a location in Florida that I don't specifically share because I'd prefer it to not get overly busy with people since there are nesting birds.

[@jdflyer7377]

@@RayHennessy Thank you for your response. And thank you for your honesty. I do landscape photography mostly, and I don’t share my location data with my photos either for many of the same reasons. I live in AZ and we have nothing like this particular spot, so I always get a bit jealous when I see amazing locations. The general location of “Florida” is close enough. Ha ha!! Again, thank you.

[@RayHennessy]

@@jdflyer7377 thanks again and I appreciate you understanding.

[@KellyPettit]

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...

[@RayHennessy]

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.

[@KellyPettit]

@@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.

[@roychavez519]

What monopod are you using?

[@RayHennessy]

I'm currently using a Promedia Gear TR34M Carbon Fiber Monopod - you can find out more about my current gear list at www.rayhennessy.com/faq

[@ZOly62]

Wich monopod you use and movng headball on it?

[@RayHennessy]

I'm currently using Monopod: ProMediaGear TR42MX Monopod Head: Wimberley MH-100

[@ZOly62]

@@RayHennessy Thanks Ray. 🙂

[@icaanul]

The 10,000 hour rule is always relevant. There is no substitute for practice and experience.

[@RayHennessy]

Agreed!

[@RonSkinnerPhotographer]

How come you were using animal tracking instead of bird tracking on the Z 9, while animal tracking works, bird tracking works much better

[@RayHennessy]

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.

[@tedbrown7908]

Big slow birds are easy, Try getting a sharp photo of a tree swift in flight.

[@RayHennessy]

Agreed, that’s part of the reason I chose these for the lesson as it’s probably an easier subject for those learning.

[@usernamemykel]

Try a Perigrine Falcon, diving...

[@RayHennessy]

@@usernamemykel larger big birds like falcons don't tend to be quite as challenging in my experience as say shorebirds or the most difficult I've ever worked with songbirds in flight, they are so much faster in short bursts and far more erratic than things like falcons. Of course there are far more challenging things to try to shoot in flight but this video was meant to show those with less or no experience how they could practice their skills, it wasn't meant to be a video to try to photograph the hardest birds in flight.