Capturing birds-in-flight is a challenging photography venue.
One of my photography tutor clients https://www.davidhoodphotography.com/phototut/ invited me to travel with him for a birds-in-flight photo-shoot at the Bernardo Waterfowl Area in Bernardo, NM located north of Socorro on Interstate 25, Exit 175. The area contains a three (3) mile vehicle tour loop and three (3) elevated viewing and photography platforms providing a great area for winter viewing of migrating Sandhill Cranes and Canadian Snow Geese. https://www.socorronm.org/attractions/ladd-s-gordon-waterfowl-complex-bernardo-waterfowl-area/
My objective was to capture a landscape photo of the birds in flight with the scenic mountains in the background. We arrived about 9AM on a clear day and found a location with the view I envisioned, birds in flight, and with the sun in the right position for good lighting – perfect!
My camera gear included a Nikon Z6 fitted with a FTZ adapter and a Nikon f/2.8 70-200mm zoom lens. I shot in manual mode with a shutter speed of 1/1250th second, an aperture set to f/11 to ensure adequate depth of field, and ISO set to Auto so that I could quickly change my direction of view without worrying about my exposure settings.
My camera is Nikon’s first entry into the full frame mirrorless camera market, and I’d read some early reviews critical of its slow autofocus of moving objects. Nikon has since addressed those concerns with firmware updates. But with those concerns in mind, I had my camera set up for back-button-focus using AF-C continuous focus mode and Dynamic Area autofocus. My shutter release was set for focus (as opposed to release), so that the shutter would only release when focus was achieved. I was able to achieve focus and capture a sufficient number of images to get the photos that I’d envisioned.
Post processing was done in Adobe Camera Raw and Photoshop where I applied Levels and Brightness/Contrast layers and sized/sharpened the images.
David Hood Photography
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