How to Take Breathtaking BIF Photos: 11 Tips for Beginners
Have you heard of the term BIF before? You may have if you are a wildlife photographer. BIF or Birds In Flight photography can be one of the most challenging genres of photography. You should have the correct camera settings, gear, technique, and tons of patience to capture the flying birds.
Read on to learn some tips and tricks to perfect your BIF photos.
1. Use a Long Lens
The only way you can get closer to the flying birds is through a long lens. So, you should aim to use a focal length of 300mm or more. Ideally, you want atelephoto lensin the 500mm to 600mm range. Unfortunately, longer focal length lenses can be pricey.
You can look for third-party lenses from Sigma or Tamron. These lenses are less expensive than name-brand lenses and produce decent-quality images. Another option is to use a teleconverter, which can increase the focal length of your existing lenses.
2. Shoot at a Higher Shutter Speed
If you are familiar with the exposure triangle, you know that you need a fast shutter speed to freeze motion. You have to tweak the shutter speed depending on the bird species. As a general rule, large birds fly slower than small birds. So, you have to use a shutter speed between 1/1000th and 1/3000th of a second to freeze the motion.
Using a tripod is a good idea because you can get away with using a slightly slower shutter speed. Remember, your movement can also introduce blur in your BIF photos while shooting handheld.
If you want tolearn more about the exposure triangle, you can do so in a separate guide.
3. Switch on Autofocus Continuous
Your camera has in-built focus modes that you can choose depending on your subject. If you need to figure out the focus modes in your camera, here is a quickguide to different focus modes and when to use them.
In autofocus continuous mode, your camera will track the moving subject and keep it focused. This mode doesn’t get it right every time, but it dramatically increases your chance of getting sharp images.
4. Try the Burst Mode
In the burst mode, your camera takes a set of pictures in rapid succession rather than just one picture per click. The number of images you capture will depend on your camera’s shooting speed, called FPS or frames per second. Usually, higher-end cameras have a higher FPS.
Again, using the burst mode will help you get as many shots in a second, exponentially increasing your chance of getting perfectly focused images.
5. Invest in a Gimbal
A gimbal head is a special type of tripod head for wildlife photography. Although it can be bulky, it is an excellent tool for capturing the whizzing birds in the sky. Once you secure and balance it on your tripod, you can use it for panning and shooting flying birds.
If you are taking pictures of water birds, you can use the gimbal head on a ground pod and capture them taking off and landing.
Othertypes of tripod heads, like the ball or pan-and-tilt heads, are not as precise or smooth as the gimbal head in tracking the birds. A sturdy gimbal head can be expensive, but again you have many affordable options from smaller brands like Neewer.
6. Hold Your Camera Correctly
You may not want to carry a tripod all the time. Sometimes, you may want the freedom of shooting handheld. Shooting the birds without a tripod is possible, but you should learn proper techniques to avoid out-of-focus images. It is difficult to keep the camera steady if your hands are away from your body. So, bring your hands close to your body.
You can also use a slow shutter speed and try the panning technique to add some motion to your photos. Tuck your shoulders and turn your entire torso to pan and follow the bird. This may not be easy at first, but the more you practice, the better you will get at it.
7. Pay Attention to the Depth of Field
When using a long lens that focuses on a faraway bird, you should be careful about having a reasonable depth of field. The birds are fast-moving and can end up anywhere in the frame. If you keep it too shallow, your subject may not be in focus.
You may own a fast lens that can open to f2.8 or f4, but while shooting moving birds, it is wise to keep the aperture over f6.3.
8. Check the Background
With fast-moving subjects like birds, you could’t expect to get everything right in the camera. You definitely need a bit of help from your editing software. But positioning yourself in the right place can save you time. Observe your subject and shoot from a place with less distracting things in the background.
If you know your subject well and know their behavior, this shouldn’t be too difficult.
9. Don’t Fear High ISO
With a high shutter speed and a moderate aperture, you only have a little room to play around with ISO. So, it is highly likely that you have to shoot at a high ISO. This recommendation may seem counterintuitive if you’re used to shooting at low ISOs. But it’s better to have a sharp noisy image than a blurry image with less noise.
It takes only a few simple steps to edit out the noise in post-production.
10. Consider a Mirrorless Camera
As we’ve said many times before, it is the photographer who takes all those great pictures—not the camera. But sometimes, having the right tool will give you an edge. For example, the latest mirrorless cameras have a hybrid autofocus system that combines contrast and phase detection systems to provide you with the best-in-class autofocus.
The eye-tracking feature in such cameras follows your subject’s eyes, and you never miss a shot.
11. Edit Your BIF Photos
With BIF photos, you have no control over where your subject will land in the frame. So, editing your BIF photos is crucial to bring out your subject’s beauty. Use the different crop overlays in your post-production software to make your composition attractive.
Play around with the different sliders to get the look you want. And finally, don’t forget to remove all the noise. You canreduce noise with Adobe Photoshopif your original file has too much.
BIF Photography: Challenging, but Enjoyable
You need time and patience to capture wildlife photos, and flying birds come with even more challenges. So the first thing you need is to get comfortable with your camera and learn to change the settings quickly. Then, spend some time mastering the art of panning.
Knowing the right settings and technique is not enough to take great pictures. You have to spend time in the field to understand the behavior of the birds. Finally, practice and practice, and you will soon get the shots you are proud of.
The diversity of birds makes them wonderful subjects to shoot, but they’re also easily spooked. These tips will make it easier to nail the shot.
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