Birds in flight
Planning
The concept for a photograph like this has been on my mind for some time. This year I decided I would make an extra effort to get it. My uncle very kindle constructed the bird boxes, one of which is visible in the photograph. I put up six boxes in total around my garden. This year I had just one box inhabited by a pair of blue tits. The hardest part of this shot was planning the lighting and camera setup to reduce any possible disturbance to the birds. I slowly introduced my equipment over several weeks. This was in order for the birds to get accustomed to the sight and sound of the gear. I also made sure to not outstay my welcome and took photographs for just a short while each day.
Equipment
A flight shot like this requires a fair amount of equipment. As seen here I used a Canon 5D mk iii with 70-200 2.8, four speedlites (including stands and diffusers) Hahnel radio trigger and a usb extension cable (for use with eos utility)
The shoot
In order to get the shot I set up my macbook tethered to my camera, a good distance away from the nest box. I used eos utitlity in order to control my settings and correct focus without having to approach my camera each time and risk disturbing the birds. It also allowed me to check on my lighting and the timing of my shots. To trigger to camera I used a hahnel radio trigger. This is much faster than using the utility to trigger the camera. It was then simply a question of pressing the shutter at the precise moment the bird was entering the box. This sounds more difficult than it is. Watching the birds through the binoculars, it is easy to predict their flight pattern. After a short time I could recognise the birds flight path that took it back towards the nest box and my awaiting camera.
tethered laptop with carboard sun shade
Blue tit exiting nest with fecal sac