How to set the parameters of SLR bird shooting?

Birds are very interesting animals, but it is not easy to photograph them. Wild birds usually don't pose as you want, and you can't even get close to them, let alone take high-quality photos. But once you master some basic knowledge of bird photography, it will be much easier to capture the wonderful moments of bird life. The following is how to set the parameters of SLR shooting birds for everyone. Welcome to read, I hope you like it.

How to set the parameters of SLR bird shooting?

The first core condition of bird shooting is not the top fuselage or lens, but patience.

Patience is the most important thing in any field of photography. Have some patience, go to the hillside and the water's edge to find and wait, and you will have a chance to photograph the target bird.

The second core condition of bird hunting is to do your homework.

Birds are seasonal, regional and habitual creatures, such as the red-tailed shrike below, which is a winter migratory bird (in Taiwan Province Province). If you want to have a chance to photograph it, you will have a chance to see it in the open grass or bushes after the Mid-Autumn Festival every year and before the Tomb-Sweeping Day (Dragon Boat Festival) every other year.

He Wu, born extremely afraid of people, is a bird that Artest thinks is difficult at present. He has only one color all over his body and often doesn't know where to focus. In addition, most of these birds live by clean and pollution-free streams (that is, deep mountains), so it takes a lot of luck to shoot this bird.

So, what if you want to shoot such a bird?

Wu He's habit is to constantly move around the water's edge and in the water. Sometimes it stops on the stone, and when it is about to focus, it has already entered the water (or dived into the water); The best time to shoot is when it is out of water for 5 seconds (sometimes less than 5 seconds).

This not only tests luck, but also tests the focusing and quasi-focusing ability of the camera body; I suggest that my friends, when they see the black river (and other birds) that are not afraid of people, might as well observe it for a while first, and you can see where he is used to coming from and which direction he is moving. In this way, we can boldly predict the point where the Wu River enters and exits the water, so as to get the beautiful picture we want.

The third core condition of bird catching, five tips for observing bird catching experience and five tips for photographing bird catching experience.

When I first fell in love with bird shooting, I often pressed the shutter when I saw the shadow of the bird, and then I got a bunch of photos that looked like Qian Wenshan's red head. Unless my friends take photos to observe the records, such photos are either deleted or forgotten in the depths of the hard disk.

Unless you encounter rare birds and animals, you should shoot them immediately, even if the light and shadow are not beautiful enough, it has its value; Ron Artest suggested that friends should leave some time to observe when they arrive at the bird spot. I also take this time to look at the shooting conditions such as terrain, environment, sunshine and background, and see how to match them, so as to relax myself and wait for the best shooting opportunity.

The fourth core condition of bird hunting is to make good use of the environment.

Make good use of the environment, which is an extension of observation; Most wild birds are afraid of people, so it is very important to make good use of camouflage tents or site topography.

There are many kinds of birds, and the seasonal environment has been changing, and the behavior of birds in order to prolong their life is even more wonderful. Courtship, nesting, holding eggs, brooding, avoiding enemies, defense, imitating harm, foraging and so on. These biodiversity are the factors that attract many people. Going up the mountain to shoot birds, I met a rare bird bathing in the water. It would be a pity if the target was scared away because there was no proper disguise or concealment!

The fifth core condition of bird hunting is to respect nature and life.

If friends have the opportunity to see pictures of wild birds hunting, or even birds of prey preying on other birds, please don't interfere with this. The law of the jungle is also part of the natural ecological food chain.

With the above five conditions, the next thing is to prepare the camera and lens.

Due to the harsh shooting conditions of Feiyu photography (the subject is constantly moving and the light is insufficient), it is recommended to use a single barrel body with a focal length of at least 300 mm. For beginners, Artest doesn't recommend going to the top to buy top-level lenses at once. The lens at the top and the tripod add up to a heavy weight, so it is not easy to walk in the mountains and by the water with equipment for a day. It would be a pity if the enthusiasm was wiped out because of this!

How to shoot? How to set it?

The general principle is that the choice of metering mode and focusing almost determines the result of the work. In order to make the subject look like a god (with vision), please try to choose oblique light in the state of smooth half light, and try not to be in the top light or backlight environment; And when focusing, focus on the bird's eyes as much as possible. Usually, the central focusing of SLR cameras is the most accurate and fast, so it is recommended to adjust the composition after focusing.

As for the metering method, it is suggested to use spot metering or key area metering. Usually, the camera's original metering mode is set to average metering or center key average metering. If the latter two modes are adopted, the state shown in the following figure is easy to appear. The background is bright, but the figure of the bird is dim. When the light permits and the bird is stable, the aperture can be appropriately reduced.

After reducing the aperture (generally at least below F7. 1, preferably below F8.0), the photos taken are much more delicate!

If you use the maximum aperture of the lens, you will often take pictures with clear eyes (or focus) and burnt body feathers. It's really embarrassing to wait for the bird to take pictures, but it didn't make the picture more perfect because of this little negligence! The eight-color bird at the bottom is only suitable for eyes, but its feathers have almost no details. What a pity!

Furthermore, the unique function of most SLR cameras: the pre-elevation of the mirror.

Shooting birds, the focal length is greater than 300mm (inclusive). In addition to proper tripod and tripod support, cable release should be used. This is just the basic five kinds of bird catching experience photography training. If you want to make the picture quality more exquisite, please turn off the "hand shock prevention function" of the lens (part of the camera body) and set the camera to the "pre-rising mirror" state.

This can prevent the refractive lens in the lens from drifting because of the shock-proof function of the lens; Moreover, the slight vibration caused by the linkage between the mirror and the shutter curtain will affect the image quality. It should be noted here that when using the "Mirror Pre-Rise setting, remember to press the shutter twice!" (The first one goes up in the mirror, and the second one is to open the shutter for exposure. )

Finally, it is suggested to use RAW file as storage mode and reserve a large post-processing space; However, this part of Artest is not commonly used. Unless there is a plan to output large drawings or print and publish, it must be stored in a raw file. In general, it is recommended to use the largest JPG file for storage.

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Photography skills:

Many themes are still, or at least, under your control. Before pressing the shutter, it may take a long time to compose the composition and decide the exposure. However, this is not the case with most nature photography. The subject moves very fast, so you don't have enough time to make a composition. You must look for opportunities to seize it. Some birds, in particular, are very alert and will run away as soon as they feel your presence. So photographers should not only have skills, but also be good at hiding and tracking.

It's very important to choose bird-shooting equipment. Equipment must be light and suitable for long-distance travel, and cameras and lenses must be easy to track birds. Usually, shooting birds is often limited by the lens. At the same time, you must capture the wings and body movements of birds as fast as possible. Choosing a lens is also important. The ideal lens is as long as possible, light weight and large aperture. Many birds are very small, so they need a large magnification to get a fairly large image.

In order to be light and prevent vibration, telephoto lens is an ideal lens. Light weight, easy focusing and simple operation. The only dissatisfaction is that the aperture is small, with only one aperture value. Due to the heavy weight of the camera lens when using telephoto lens, it takes a long time to shoot birds and the use time of hand-held camera will not be long, so it is best to support the camera on a tripod or a monopod.

Camera parameter setting reference for shooting wild birds:

1. focusing: If servo autofocus (continuous focusing AF-C) is selected, the bird will move, which is not suitable for single focusing, and continuous focusing is the best.

2. Driving mode: Choose continuous shooting (high-speed continuous shooting) to avoid missing the shooting picture. Normal cameras can reach 6- 10 frames per second, and the sound of "click click" is very pleasant.

3. Shooting mode: the shutter takes precedence over the Tv/S file (of course, the speed of Great God is fast enough, and the manual M file can be used for a solid foundation)

4. In shutter priority mode, the aperture and sensitivity will be automatically selected. If there are requirements for image quality, you can choose the automatic range of sensitivity from 100 to 1600, which can perform well.

5. Shutter speed

When the bird is resting, the bird moves in the range, and it is not necessary to use a high-speed shutter. Under the condition of ensuring the safety shutter, the shutter speed is slightly faster than the safety shutter. For example, the equivalent focal length is 400mm, and the shutter speed should be at least faster than 1/500 seconds. When the shutter speed is not fast, reduce the sensitivity as much as possible.

When birds fly and play, it is suggested that the shutter speed should reach11000 seconds ~ 1/2000 seconds. At this time, the flapping wings and flying posture of birds can be fixed by high-speed shutter to take a perfect moment.

Lakeside and seaside, Woods and reservoirs are places where birds often haunt. Before shooting, you should know the birds and places to shoot and grasp the best shooting opportunity. In addition, we should know the influence of season and light on bird shooting, and what kind of light will produce what kind of effect.

Show bird-hunting skills in all directions

First, we should make good preparations.

1, fully understand the habits of birds.

For example, kingfishers like to stand on branches or rocks slightly higher than the water for a long time; Storks like to take off again and again to attack flying insects, and then fall back to their original places; Some tits are courageous and sometimes jump in to observe humans. There are many similar examples.

These understandings are very helpful for us to find corresponding ways according to the personalities of different birds. Even if we don't know much about their personalities, the problem is not big. For most birds, if they have suddenly raised their heads or stopped their whole body movements, it means that they have discovered potential dangers and are ready to escape from the scene at any time; And many social birds, such as grey magpie and red-billed blue magpie, will have birds standing guard to sound an alarm, indicating danger. Knowing these behaviors of birds, we will know when to move forward and when to stop moving forward, and wait for the birds we want to shoot to relax and make them feel that everything is safe.

2. The vigilance of birds cannot be ignored.

The most important thing in bird photography is that photographers should understand the psychology of birds and think for them. It seems easy to say, but in fact it is the most difficult to do. People who have some experience in bird photography may know that after finding "Ah, that bird is parked in that tree", their feet will involuntarily run to where the bird is, eager to take this or that. In this way, when you arrive at a place that you think is suitable for photography, it often happens that birds escape when focusing. As a result, I lost my immediate photography opportunity. The failure was entirely caused by the photographer himself.

After finding the photographed bird, if possible, take a photo at your position first, and then consider the moving position such as light state and composition. Be gentle at this time. Take another picture after moving to the ideal position, and then get close to the bird. When approaching a bird, you should restrain your impatience and move forward slowly. At this time, you must pay attention to regularly confirm the movements of wild birds. Once you find the bird a little uneasy, stop moving immediately, wait for the bird to calm down or wait in the distance, and then slowly approach the bird. In approaching motion, don't press the shutter after reaching the predetermined position.

3. camera

In bird photography, almost all digital SLR cameras can be used. However, if you plan to photograph birds in flight, you should pay attention to continuous shooting speed, high sensitivity and accuracy of autofocus system. If you don't have a SLR camera, it will be difficult to shoot, but you don't have to give up-I believe that a good photographer's photos taken with a mobile phone will be better than those taken by a poor photographer with expensive equipment.

Compared with large format cameras, SLR cameras have small screen size but good maneuverability. Compared with small digital cameras, SLR cameras have fast response speed and can cope with fast bird photography. Don't worry about the small size of the picture, that is, the image is small. As long as the focus is accurate when shooting, you can zoom in and take a large-size clear photo.

4. lens

Most birds are very thin, so you need a lens of at least 200mm (300mm is better). The telephoto lens not only allows you to shoot from a long distance, but also blurs the background. Just a longer focal length (or a larger aperture) means that the lens will be more expensive, bigger and heavier. 400mm f/5.6 lens is the best, which can provide as long focal length as possible while ensuring aperture and portability. Of course, you can also use 100mm or shorter lens, but you need to find very brave birds, or just take birds as part of landscape photography.

If you want to take a satisfactory close-up, you must also prepare a lens with a magnification of 1.4 or 2 times to enlarge the focal length of the lens, especially for shooting some smaller birds.

5. Other accessories

Using a large tripod is extremely important for obtaining high-definition images. In addition, you should also prepare a large-capacity memory card in case you miss the opportunity because of continuous high-speed shooting and insufficient memory.

6. Be ready to shoot at any time.

Sometimes the best shooting opportunity comes inadvertently, so you must always be ready to shoot. When you come to the wild, make sure that the telephoto lens is installed on the fuselage and all settings are correct (such as aperture, ISO sensitivity, etc.). In this way, even if a bird suddenly lands in front of you, you can start shooting at once.

Second, we started shooting.

1, the grasp of light

Everything starts with good light. The best time to shoot is in the morning or evening, because at this time, the light is soft, the color is beautiful, there is no ghost, and the highlights and dark parts have good details.

Step 2 write a composition

Usually leave some space in the direction of birds' flight to show their flight. The dichotomy is also valid at this time. Try some different ingredients and see which one is the best. In addition, when shooting, you should avoid distractions in the photos. One last point: Try to have a bird's eye view of horizontal shooting.

Step 3: shutter

In bird photography, telephoto lenses are often used, so the most important thing is not to use the shutter for too long if you don't want the photos to be blurred by machine vibration. The rule is that the shutter speed does not exceed the focal length of the lens. For example, the focal length of your lens is 400mm and the shutter should be within 1/400 s, but this formula is only valid when using a full-frame camera. If your camera is a small sensor, you need to multiply it by the focal length conversion factor. At this time, the shutter speed is limited to 1/640s.

Now most cameras or lenses have anti-shake function, which is very helpful in low light environment. With anti-shake, you can use the shutter for a longer time, depending on the information of the camera or lens. For example, if the anti-shake level of 400mm lens is level 2, you can add a level 2 shutter (1100s). Of course, if you use a tripod, this rule is not so important.

If you want to freeze the moment, use a shutter of11000s or shorter, and if you want to show motion, use a shutter of 1/60s or longer.

4. Hole

Most people probably know that the aperture determines the depth of field. In other words, if you want a more blurred background, please use the maximum aperture. However, when using telephoto lens, some parts of the bird are easily out of focus, so be sure to pay attention to your focus (usually the eyes). If necessary, reduce the aperture a little.

There are three best exposure modes when shooting birds. If you want to control the aperture (depth of field), use the aperture first; If you want to control the shutter (shooting birds in flight), using the shutter is preferred; If you can master the exposure, use manual mode.

If you shoot dark birds on a light background, you can add some exposure compensation if you want to get more dark details. If you are worried about overexposure, reduce the exposure compensation.

5. Sensitivity

Bird photography, like other categories, the lower the sensitivity, the better. However, clear photos using ISO 800 or 1600 are better than blurred photos using ISO 200.

Step 6 focus on your eyes

When the audience looks at a photo, they will see their eyes first, so they must focus and image clearly. To do this, don't use autofocus, it's better to use central focus more.

7. Use the correct autofocus range.

Many telephoto lenses can switch the distance range of autofocus and reduce unnecessary focusing time. When shooting birds, you will generally choose a farther range, which will help to further reduce the focus time and avoid missing the best shooting opportunity.

8. Use continuous shooting

To capture the moment when birds fly, we need to use continuous shooting mode to ensure that we can "capture" a good photo. Make sure that the camera is set to continuous shooting mode and the memory card has enough capacity before going out.

Tips:

1, using cars as cover

Using cover is a good way to get close to birds, and your car is one of the best covers. When you drive up a path or enter a scenic spot, put the camera at your fingertips. Once you see a shooting opportunity, just roll down the window and you can shoot. Generally speaking, birds are not afraid to fly around cars unless you have attacked them.

Step 2 avoid sudden movements

Animals are very sensitive to your movements. Don't make sudden movements to avoid scaring them. Even slow and calm movements often disturb them, so the best choice is to stay still and wait for them to fly to you.

3. Don't have unnecessary actions.

Some birds are brave. You can approach them. The best example is the white swan.

Step 4 move carefully

As long as you don't make sudden movements, many birds can let you near.

Step 5 approach quietly

Sometimes this trick really works. As long as the birds can't see you, you can sneak up and shoot carefully.

6, get down, don't have any action.

When you come down, birds sometimes approach you unexpectedly. Just find a good place, or put some food in it, and then wait patiently.

7. Hidden

This technique is very useful if you want to shoot some cautious birds, or if you need to shoot some smaller birds at close range. Camouflage belts, camouflage nets, or things in the surrounding environment can be used as camouflage. You can hide near things that prey on birds, or you can put some food where you want birds to appear. Sunflower seeds are often the best food. If you want the bird to stop on the branch before eating, put the food under the branch.