How to photograph birds in flight?

Photography: Jim ridley's bird photography is a very popular theme. But birds are not easy to shoot, especially birds flying at high speed in the air. In order to successfully capture these small and fast "small models", we need to pay attention to some skills. Equipment is different from other shooting subjects, and bird photography has higher requirements for equipment. Without proper equipment, it is difficult to take good photos only by your own skills and technology, or although you can take pictures, it is very inefficient. Here we have a general understanding of some principles for choosing equipment when shooting birds. Generally speaking, birds are difficult to get close to and need long-distance shooting, so they need telephoto lenses. A telephoto lens of 300mm to 500mm or even longer is ideal. If we shoot a fixed bird, we can still get close. But it's harder to get close to flying birds. So if possible, it's best to bring a lens with a long focal length. However, if you only need a smaller size photo, take it with a lens with a shorter focal length, and then cut the picture a lot later. In addition to the lens, bird photography also has certain requirements for the camera, especially the focusing performance. Although the image quality of the entry camera is good, the defect of focusing performance is difficult to make up. When evaluating focusing performance, on the one hand, the number of focusing points, the more focusing points, the greater the chance of focusing success; On the other hand, it is the focusing function. Some professional cameras specially designed for sports and wildlife have various focusing settings for different moving objects, which can make your shooting more powerful. Finally, we should consider the configuration of focus, such as cross and double cross, and the focusing ability is different. Shooting birds often requires a long wait, so a tripod is also a necessary equipment. Tripods are also designed for shooting birds, such as five-dimensional Yuntai. Choosing professional equipment can greatly improve your shooting success rate. You can leave the flash at home when shooting birds. First, you don't need a flash for long-distance shooting. Second, you should develop the habit of "quiet" when shooting wild animals, so as not to disturb wild animals. The abuse of artificial light may even destroy the local ecological environment. For more professional photographers, squatting in a fixed position is also a way of shooting. Sometimes you even need to stay for a few days, so you need a shelter. Shelter can be a temporary shack or tent, but also a certain degree of camouflage. These things can be made from local materials, such as branches, or they can be brought by themselves, such as camouflage nets. For ordinary couples, you can also wear camouflage or hunting clothes. In addition to equipment, bird shooting has its own specific shooting and operation methods. Focus. To shoot birds in flight, you need to use continuous focus mode, and the camera automatically selects the focus. Professional cameras will automatically judge the moving objects in the picture and find the real subject accurately. Some cameras can even set the focus mode for objects with different motion patterns and trajectories. If you use single-point focusing, you need strong following focusing ability, and try to keep the focus on the bird's eyes. Continuous shooting. Try to use the continuous shooting function to capture the picture, leaving room for later picture selection. Birds are very fast, and the success rate of capturing a single photo by human eyes is very low. Similarly, the continuous shooting speed gap between professional cameras and entry cameras is also very large. If your camera's continuous shooting capability is insufficient, you should use JPEG format instead of RAW format, because the latter will greatly slow down the speed of continuous shooting. Stay there. Squatting is a very useful way to shoot. When squatting, find the place where the bird you want to shoot often moves, but this requires a certain understanding of the subject. You can also feed where you want to shoot, lure birds to eat, and hide nearby to prepare for shooting. However, it should be noted that feeding cannot pollute the environment or cause harm to birds.