Many novice avian\u00a0photographers are unpleasantly surprised by the amount of\u00a0wing extension during take-off and they\u00a0cut off major portions of them (or clip them) which usually makes those images obvious candidates for the garbage bin.\u00a0 This extension can be in any direction (up, down, horizontal\u00a0or any position in-between) and it’s difficult to plan for.\u00a0 To\u00a0give yourself the\u00a0best chance to avoid clipping, give the bird space in the frame in the direction you anticipate its take-off to be and allow room for the extended wings.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the image\u00a0below I was quite\u00a0close to the\u00a0Willet (even had to\u00a0take off my trusty teleconverter) and got quite a few shots of the bird perched on the sagebrush.\u00a0 Then I planned for take-off as best\u00a0I could.\u00a0 If I had continued to shoot horizontally I knew I would cut off the wings so I switched to vertical.\u00a0 This didn’t give me quite enough room in front of the bird for the composition I would prefer but it\u00a0beat the hell out of clipping the wings.<\/p>\n
\u00a0![\"willet-4931\"](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/willet-4931.jpg\" "\\"willet-4931\\"")
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\u00a0Canon 7D, 1\/2500, f\/7.1,\u00a0ISO 640, EV 0.00,\u00a0500 f\/4<\/em><\/p>\n <\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Every image has both strengths and weaknesses and the overall appeal of the shot depends on how they balance out.\u00a0 Occasionally the strengths can overcome an obvious flaw, even one so serious as a clipped wing.\u00a0\u00a0 In the image below of two Northern Harriers fighting over a dead Mallard I cut off several of the primary wing feathers.\u00a0 Usually I would delete such an image but in this case the dynamics of the skirmish with the talon embedded in the chest of the bird on the left, the open beaks, the wing positions, the light and the leftovers of the mallard visible at lower right more than make up for the clipped wing.\u00a0\u00a0 I took this shot quite early in my bird photography “career” (f\/10 was likely not the best choice here) and I almost trashed the shot.\u00a0 Sure glad I didn’t.\u00a0 Even though it’s not a take-off image I include it here to make a point – don’t automatically <\/em>delete every image where body parts have been clipped or cut off.\u00a0 Evaluate them first.<\/p>\n \u00a0Canon 40D, 1\/1600, f\/10,\u00a0ISO 500, EV 0.00,\u00a0500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Allow for the speed of the take-off:<\/strong><\/p>\n My\u00a0guess is that after clipped wings the most common fatal\u00a0flaw of take-off shots is either a blurred subject from too little shutter speed\u00a0or a cut off bird because the subject is already half out of the frame when the shutter was clicked.\u00a0 Both are problems related to\u00a0the speed of take-off.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n How much shutter speed you’ll need largely depends on the size of the bird (the wings and bodies\u00a0of smaller birds move much more quickly than\u00a0do those of larger birds) and whether or not your own personal tastes require “freezing” of the wingtips (the tips of the wings move the fastest).\u00a0 As a rule of thumb\u00a0I generally try to get a minimum\u00a0shutter speed of 1\/2000 for songbirds, half that for larger birds like many raptors.\u00a0 But remember, that’s a minimum<\/em> – if I have the light I’ll often be set at 1\/3000 to 1\/3500 as long as my ISO isn’t over 800.\u00a0 My 7D produces too much noise at higher ISO’s.<\/p>\n Small bird take-offs are fast!\u00a0 <\/em>To avoid cutting off the bird as it leaves the frame I always try to keep finger pressure on the shutter to the point that\u00a0it’s just about to trip – gaining that split second can make all the difference.\u00a0 However it can get uncomfortable and tense to be at that “hair-trigger” situation for extended periods of time.\u00a0 That’s what it often takes though…\u00a0<\/p>\n In this image of a Northern Shrike, the body and head are sharp at this\u00a0shutter speed though the wings are blurred, probably due to both\u00a0shutter speed and depth of field.\u00a0 Many folks like the effect of blurred wings as it gives a sense of motion.\u00a0 I was actually surprised this image turned out as well as it did.\u00a0 The shrike was facing mostly away from me and since most birds take off in the direction they’re facing I didn’t expect to get much.\u00a0 But this bird very considerately looked back at me at just the right moment.\u00a0 The twig in front of the right wing isn’t ideal but\u00a0I was\u00a0still happy to get the shot.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Canon 7D, 1\/2000, f\/6.3,\u00a0ISO 500,\u00a0EV +0.33, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Decide on a focusing strategy based on your prediction of likely take-off direction:<\/strong><\/p>\n When the bird is facing either to my left or right and I think there’s a good chance it will take off in the direction it’s facing (and thus stay in approximately the same plane as it is perched) I will often pre-focus on the bird and not even attempt to maintain continuous focus as it flies off – in my experience I get a higher\u00a0percentage of sharp shots that way because it’s so difficult to maintain focus on an accelerating bird that is flying laterally to me.\u00a0 If I have enough light to maintain adequate shutter speed I’ll also adjust my aperture (I shoot in aperture priority)\u00a0to allow for a bit more depth of field “wiggle room”.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n This\u00a0Western Meadowlark was perched on a bush and facing to my\u00a0left.\u00a0 I pre-focused, then\u00a0adjusted my framing to give the bird room to fly into and hoped it would fly\u00a0in the direction it was facing in roughly the same\u00a0plane that it was perched.\u00a0 It worked.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n However, when the bird is facing me and looks like it might take off in my direction I’ll usually attempt to maintain focus on it as it comes my way.\u00a0 I find that I can maintain focus more consistently when it’s coming toward me and besides I would lose focus on the bird immediately anyway since it’s flying toward me.<\/p>\n This Ferruginous Hawk was perched on a fence post and facing me.\u00a0 I was able to stay locked on for several frames as it came my way.\u00a0 You can see from the position of the feet that it has just left a perch, which I cropped out at bottom.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n Canon 7D, 1\/4000, f\/6.3,\u00a0ISO 500,\u00a0EV -0.33, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Know your subject to predict flight path:<\/strong><\/p>\n By this I mean to watch for behaviors that are consistent with the species or with individual birds that can be used to prevent clipping body parts as they take off.\u00a0 For example, many heavy bodied raptors, when on a high perch like a telephone pole, will take off at a downward slant to use gravity to quickly increase flight speed.\u00a0 Knowing this often enables me to keep the whole bird in the frame as it takes off.\u00a0 Smaller birds will often repeatedly use the same perch when hunting (hawking)\u00a0and will take off from it\u00a0in a predictable manner.\u00a0<\/p>\n I watched this Northern Rough-winged Swallow (and perhaps a few of its friends) land on this perch sticking out from a riverbank many times.\u00a0 Each time the bird would stay on the perch for a short time and then take off toward the water surface below it to hunt for insects.\u00a0 It nearly always took off at a downward angle.\u00a0 Planning for this enabled me to avoid clipping anything as it took off.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0Canon 7D, 1\/2500, f\/6.3,\u00a0ISO 640,\u00a0EV -0.33, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n I had watched and photographed this Black-billed Magpie and it’s mate building their nest for many days.\u00a0 When bringing nesting materials to the nest site they would often land and take off from several nearby bushes on their way to the nest.\u00a0 The angle at which they would take off from each perch became fairly predictable and that fact likely prevented me from clipping anything in the image below.\u00a0 Don’t get me wrong – I cut off enough magpie parts to fill a dump truck over the\u00a0several weeks I was shooting them but knowing their take-off habits certainly increased my “keeper” rate.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0Canon 7D, 1\/2000, f\/8,\u00a0ISO 400,\u00a0EV -0.33, 500 f\/4<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n All that said, individual birds can still be fickle and unpredictable and a few species don’t have a predictable bone in their body!\u00a0 I’ve found that predicting take-off direction of the American Kestrel is nothing more than a crap shoot.\u00a0 They often will be facing and looking in one direction and take off in another (most birds do that occasionally but kestrels are the champs at it in my experience).\u00a0 They are just so agile, quick and athletic that getting take off shots of them is tough.\u00a0<\/p>\n The kestrel below was on this cattail and facing to my left.\u00a0 If it had taken off in that direction (as I anticipated)\u00a0I would have likely had good light on the face and body and perhaps not clipped anything.\u00a0\u00a0But as you can see he has\u00a0twisted to his left (my right) and took off in that diresction so I didn’t get any light in the face and I\u00a0cut off the bird in the next frame\u00a0as he took off.\u00a0 That’s one of the things that makes bird photography\u00a0challenging and fun –\u00a0it\u00a0ain’t easy!<\/em><\/p>\n I’m not including this image in this post because it’s any good (it isnt) but simply to illustrate how things can go wrong.\u00a0\u00a0 The best laid plans of mice and men…<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0Canon 7D, 1\/1600, f\/7.1,\u00a0ISO 400,\u00a0EV +1.00, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Anticipate the potential need for a different exposure on the bird as it takes off:<\/strong><\/p>\n Many birds have very light or almost white plumage under their wings, even when their overall plumage may be quite dark.\u00a0 Very often bird photographers will be shooting a perched bird for quite a while and getting what looks like a good exposure for the dark plumage on their screen.\u00a0 Then they’ll wait for the take-off and keep that same exposure, only to find they’ve blown the whites under the wings as the bird leaves the perch.\u00a0 I’ve done it many times.\u00a0 It really hurts to get a dynamic take-off pose and find that you’ve blown the whites.\u00a0 For take-off shots I’ll often knock my EV down by 1\/3 from where I had it set when the bird was perched.\u00a0 There are many variables here though so there’s just\u00a0no easy formula that always works.\u00a0 I just try to be especially cognizant of the potential for blown whites with this kind of shot and make adjustments that I think will work.<\/p>\n This Northern Harrier taking off from a snowy perch was a likely candidate for blown whites.\u00a0 My EV setting with this snowy background seemed to work well in this case, probably because this is a full frame shot and the relatively dark bird (against the white snow) pretty much filled the frame.\u00a0 I was simply lucky not to clip anything.\u00a0 Another thing that helped is that the brightest part of the bird, the notoriously difficult to properly expose white rump patch, was mostly turned away from me.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0Canon 7D, 1\/3200, f\/7.1,\u00a0ISO 500,\u00a0EV +0.33, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Ugly perches are a fact of life:<\/strong><\/p>\n Beautiful birds love to perch on ugly, unnatural\u00a0perches – telephone poles,\u00a0 roofs, new fence posts, wires, bird houses, the list goes on and on.\u00a0 Take-off shots will often include those perches in the frame and they usually detract very much from the subject.\u00a0 If you’re lucky you can dispatch the perch by cropping, but often you cannot.\u00a0 Some resort to cloning the perch out of the image,\u00a0which\u00a0is an ethical decision each photographer must make.\u00a0 However, if\u00a0it’s an attractive, natural perch\u00a0it\u00a0typically makes the image stronger, especially since it can look like something’s missing if the bird has just taken off and there’s only empty space where our\u00a0brain tells us there should be a perch.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0When I was shooting this male Short-eared Owl delivering voles to his family he would often perch on this ugly metal post, move the vole from his talons to his beak, and then take off toward the nest.\u00a0 I kept a few of these take-off shots but I deleted most of them because of the post.\u00a0\u00a0 Ugly perches are just\u00a0part of the bird photographer’s territory…\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"northern-harrier-9202\"](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/northern-harrier-9202.jpg\" "\\"northern-harrier-9202\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Canon 7D, 1\/2500, f\/6.3,\u00a0ISO 500,\u00a0EV +0.00, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n