Hi all,
I have been a Landscape photographer for several years and have recently ventured in bird photography.
My question regards camera setting, I capture a lot of small birds in dark forest situations like Robins, rosellas, etc.
The only way I get a good exposure is to shoot in manual mode, eg set TV and Av to what I think is appropriate for the
capture then have the ISO on auto. I use a Canon 5D mk4 so It allows exposure compensation to be dialled in with this set up.

I can't see any other way to get a nice exposure when your tracking a bird though various lighting condition.
I could see taking test shots and locking in exposure settings in fixed position would work but working quickly
on the fly not so much.

Is this a common way to capture birds? if not is there another way

Hope this makes sense

Kind regards

Andrew

Hi Andrew

Excellent discussion point.

Speed is the key for bird photography in many situations. You need to respond quickly and it helps to have the camera in whatever mode that works best for you to achieve this.

I find that for most bird photography it is helpful to have two of the three exposure parameters fixed and the other on auto. The two modes that work best for me are either manual+autoISO (that is, with shutter speed and aperture set manually, and camera sets ISO) or aperture priority (with aperture and ISO set manually, and camera sets shutter speed). In either case, exposure compensation would be dialed in as needed (I have this on rear dial for Av, and Set+front wheel for M).

I tend to focus on maximising shutter speed in most situations because despite advances in image stabilisation, shutter speed is your best friend in bird photography, as the subject is often not still! Therefore, I work in apertures at or near maximum on my 100-400 zoom (f/5.6 at 400) so I generally just leave this at f/5.6 or f/6.3, which I find gives me plenty of sharpness at the centre. I prioritise (1) shutter speed (2) ISO and (3) aperture. In aperture priority mode, I would try and judge the scene in advance but in relatively shady situations I would often be at ISO 800 or higher - you can clean up reasonable amounts of noise but if the image is not sharp there is nothing to be done to resurrect it. So I might approach a shoot with the aperture fixed at f/6.3, ISO set at 800 and let the shutter speed be set by the camera provided it stays at above around 1/800s. If the light fades I would drop back to f/5.6 and ramp up ISO, to keep shutter speed high. In manual+autoISO I would set the camera at a suitable shutter speed (say 1/800s or higher), the aperture at f/5.6 or f/6.3 and let the camera choose ISO. Importantly, if you do this, you should consider setting the maximum ISO that you are prepared to tolerate in auto ISO (there is a menu setting to do this in Canon).

Exposure compensation would be dialed in as normal eg for a dark bird against a bright background you could add +1 or even +2 EV, and for a white bird against a darkish background, up to -1 EV. Obviously this would depend on your metering mode - this would be for a wide metering mode (I use centre-weighted); if you use spot metering different adjustments may be needed, and spot metering is probably most reliable in M mode. Also bear in mind different cameras respond slightly differently so you need to work out what's best for your model. Remember that metering is often read at the centre point of the viewfinder rather than on the focus point you set (so if you shift focus points you may find you are focusing on one point and metering on another).

Obviously having one setting automated will mean exposure settings are constantly changing as you move around. There are some situations where this can be undesirable eg if you are doing birds in flight, exposure will change as you pan across different backgrounds. In this situation, provided you can prepare in advance, it can be advantageous to meter off the bird in anticipation. Provided the light on the bird stays reasonably constant as it moves, the exposure will then be accurate for the bird regardless of the background.

Many of our members prefer fully manual mode. I will leave them to comment on their preferred techniques, but I think one way you could operate is similar to manual+autoISO. This involves setting the aperture and shutter speed in advance, and prescribing the ISO function to your preferred wheel/dial on the camera. In the field, you just adjust the ISO as needed to adjust the exposure.

If you are someone who likes to use specific shooting menus (eg C1, C2 in Canon) you could ascribe settings for different situations to different C settings. Eg you could set one to your preferred settings for relatively static birds and one primarily for birds in flight.

Also think about autofocus settings. You may need to trial different combinations of autofocus parameters to get the best options of tracking parameters and numbers of focus points that work best for you. DSLR autofocus systems can be confused by bush settings in reduced light, leading to hunting. Many of our members use the 5D series and could probably advise of their favourite settings.

Happy to answer any further questions.

Regards

Simon

Hi Andrew,

I often head out with a group of four photographers, and the only common element is that we all use Canons. The differences in settings between the four of us when taking a photo of the same bird is quite laughable, and yet ironically, we all more or less end up with the same result after processing. Whilst the others have their dials set to AV or TV, I personally prefer using full manual all the time. The only constant for me is that I rarely deviate from ISO800, unless shooting anywhere along the coast, and then I drop it down to 640 due to the harsh light. My thumb is always pressed against the large dial around the SET button, so I can rotate it 'left' to the maximum aperture possible, which has always been my preference. I also have my index finger on the dial up the top of the camera body controlling the shutter speed simultaneously. I use both a 7Dmk2 and a 5Dmk3. I did play with having presets for C1, C2 and C3, however, a wrong turn of the dial under pressure when speed was required one day, saw a few shots get lost, and thus I no longer bother with the presets. This technique has served me well Andrew, and I have never had an exposure issue with a bird; be it perched or in flight. I would agree 100% with Simon that speed is the key.

Cheers,

Rob.

Thanks Simon and Rod for your prompt reply,

Sounds like I'm on the right track regards settings, Most of the time Im running wide open at F5.6 and rarely below 1/750 speed.
But Im having to deal with high ISO, sometimes I have to push upwards of 6400, I think the 5d m4 handles it well, then photoshop cleans up the rest.

Could you tell me if this photo has acceptable noise levels and sharpness
It was captured at F5.6, 1/750 ISO 12400

Thanks again for your comments and time,
I'm sure you're got better things to do, like photographing birds!!!!

Many thanks

Andrew

Andrew

It is difficult to tell much due to the relatively small size of the photo. There seems to be a reasonable amount of detail around the face, but the breast and back feathers seem smoothed and slightly 'waxy'. At this size it seems reasonable in terms of noise and sharpness but I am not sure how well it would stand up full size. I can't see any noise. Whether this is 'acceptable' will depend on the viewer, the purpose of the shot etc. For example, I would be happy with this as a record or identification shot (you don't see owls every day!) but there are other issues (eg composition) which would contribute to whether I think its a 'good' shot.

Not being a full-frame user I can't really comment about how easy it is to work with files at this ISO from a full frame camera. I use an APSC (Canon 90D) which has a lot of small pixels, and I think ISO 3200 is about as high as I want to go. I would expect a full frame camera to have another stop's worth of noise performance compared to APSC.

You can extract a bit more detail with a good noise reduction software. Not sure what you are using. Some of our members use NeatImage or Topaz with good results, and I use DxO Photolab which has top notch noise reduction at high ISO.

Cheers
Simon

Thanks Simon,
Appreciate the feed back

Cheers
Andrew