Date Taken: May 25th, 2010 01:04pm
Nikon D90, Nikkor AF 70-300mm f/4-5.6
ISO 640, "S" priority 1/500s @ f/16, +1 EV, WB=Sunlight, FL=300mm
Software: Picasa
Flickr link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/46055880@N03/4700212064/
...... There are lots of these big birds at the Kuala Lumpur zoo. And they are huge wonderful birds which makes it easier to practice Fast Shutter priority to freeze their flight motion. Large birds are actually slower and therefore easier targets. Depending on the kind and tones of the bird, the suggested baseline manual settings are 1/500th to 1/1000th second for shutter speed. I was told that the baseline setting are f4.0 to f8 for aperture. The general rule seems to be if the bird is darker, then the Aperture should be bigger (small f number like f/4) to ease up on under-exposing the image. (But here as my camera was on shutter priority, it calibrated itself for an f/16). It is suggested therefore to use "M" or "Manual" mode to work within the baseline Shutter and Aperture Settings. Lots of light is the best condition so that the ISO number can be tuned to lowest possible like ISO200 or even ISO100. (In my case, it was ISO640 as I was shooting under a lot of shades). Focus lock of half-pressing the shutter is important to lock in the focus of the bird while tracking its motion using the viewfinder. I still find it needs lots of practice which makes "Photographing birds in flight" a very challenging and enjoyable photography subject.
