There’s something almost supernatural about being able to photograph birds in full flight. Freezing their powerful wings at peak action and capturing that intense look of determination conveys the incredible capabilities of these feathered aviators. Of course, achieving crisp, well-composed images of subjects moving so quickly and unpredictably is no easy task. It pushes your photography skills to the limit. With the right gear and a lot of practice though, anyone can learn to consistently create inspiring flight photography.
The Right Camera Gear for Bird Photography
While rapid technology advances in modern cameras have made high-speed photography more accessible, you’ll still need reasonably fast equipment to capture crisp shots of birds in flight. At minimum, an SLR or mirrorless camera body with a raw burst mode of at least 5 frames per second is recommended. The autofocus system should use advanced algorithms to be highly accurate and reactive when tracking erratic subjects.
Perhaps even more critical is having a lens with enough reach. You’ll want to shoot with focal lengths of 300mm or longer to maintain a respectful distance from skittish birds and not risk disturbing them. Ultra-telephoto zoom lenses in the 100-400mm range are ideal, providing flexible framing as the bird moves around. Lenses with optical image stabilization are a must-have for handholding heavy glass.
Don’t neglect investing in a robust camera support system as well. Birds rarely stay conveniently in one location. You’ll need to smoothly reacquire and track focus as they take flight. A stable tripod or monopod is invaluable, especially for larger lenses. Gimbal tripod heads allow for seamless pivoting to follow flight paths.
Steady and Ready
One of the biggest challenges with shooting birds in flight is keeping the subject’s erratic, high-speed motion rendered sharply in the viewfinder and final image. Increasing your shutter speed to 1/1000th of a second or faster is critical for freezing wing and feather detail. Modern cameras handle these speeds well, but you’ll need to pay attention to your aperture and ISO settings to maintain proper exposure.
From my experience, shooting in shutter priority or full manual mode works best, allowing you complete control over your creative variables like depth of field. AI-powered subject tracking autofocus systems have been a game-changer, allowing you to concentrate on framing and timing rather than trying to accurately follow focus.
Stabilization is just as vital as high shutter speed. For handheld shots, enable any optical lens stabilization. Shutter speeds over 1/1000 sec help control motion blur from camera shake, but you’ll get noticeably sharper results using a monopod or tripod with a gimbal head to steady that long, heavy glass.
Mastering the Conditions
While nature photography requires patience and being able to capitalize on the conditions you’re dealt, there are some environmental factors that are ideal to prioritize for birds in flight:
Position yourself so the light is behind you, either from the sun itself or an open sky. Backlighting prevents underexposed silhouettes and beautifully separates your subject from the background with a vibrant halo of light around their wings and body. Use fill flash or dial in positive exposure compensation to ensure perfect exposure.
Scout ahead and carefully consider your shooting angles and potential backgrounds. An open, featureless sky is the simplest option. Natural perches like small trees and snags can create attractive, environmental settings if the bird is positioned well. Just avoid cluttered scenes that become too “busy” as the bird moves around the frame.
Also pay attention to wind conditions. Breezy days cause more hovering, flapping and aerobatic activity. However, very strong gusts make flight control difficult for birds and photographers alike.
Stay Alert and Patient
As all wildlife photographers know, the stars of our craft rarely cooperate and pose exactly as we envision! You’ll need to stay 100% alert and ready to capture the briefest opportunities that present themselves. Pre-focus and pre-frame on an area you anticipate birds entering, allowing you to react immediately with a half-press of the shutter button when action happens. Keep your eyes peeled for sudden takeoffs, flyovers or territorial displays.
In addition to being reactive, a solid understanding of your subject’s behaviors will help you better predict their flight patterns and positioning for future opportunities. Take time to observe and anticipate the paths and perches birds seem to favor. With experience, you’ll learn to extract cues from cocked wings, head turns or squabbles that signal an impending burst of action.
Reviewing and Editing Process
Even with rapidly improving mirrorless cameras, shot discipline is still important when trying to capture birds in the intense burst of irregular flight. Reviewing and editing your wing-shotos after the fact will be critical for learning what settings, compositions, and techniques yield your most inspiring imagery versus ones that need improvement.
After a shoot, closely examine each frame in editing software like Lightroom or Capture One, scrutinizing sharpness and the precise positioning of feather and wing details. Adjust exposure, contrast, white balance, sharpening, and noise reduction if needed.
Cropping can be a powerful tool for recomposing or eliminating distracting elements from your frame. Just be cautious about cropping too tightly, especially on JPG files, which can show increased artifacts and noise when pushed to 100% view.
Consider using focus stacking software for shots where you nailed the overall body position and background but one area like the head or wingtips is soft. Combining the sharpest areas from multiple frames can yield impeccably focused keepers.
Ethical Considerations
As with all nature photography, respecting and prioritizing the well-being of your subjects is absolutely paramount. Disturbing or stressing birds for the sake of an image is unacceptable. Use blinds or camouflage to stay concealed, model ethical field practices for others, and avoid active nests or chicks.
Whenever possible, get acquainted with local birding groups or Audubon chapters to better understand appropriate locations and etiquette. They can provide invaluable insight on nesting seasons, fragile habitats, reporting illegal activity and more.
At the end of the day, we must be responsible stewards and advocates for protecting the amazing species that enrich our lives and photographic pursuits. Taking impactful nature photos depends on abundant, healthy wildlife populations.
Patience and Constant Practice
Don’t get discouraged if your first attempts at photographing flying birds feel completely uncontrolled and messy. There is a steep learning curve with this niche of wildlife photography. Accurately tracking rapid, unpredictable targets while managing multiple fast-paced settings on your camera gear takes repetition.
With each outing though, you’ll begin developing instincts around timing, anticipating subject movement, ideal shutter speeds, and how aperture affects feather/wing blur. What started as intimidating technical challenges will gradually become muscle memory.
More importantly, you’ll gain insights into each species’ behaviors and the cues that signal an impending takeoff or aerial acrobatics. Your ability to read the situation and pre-visualize future moments will unlock razor-sharp reflexes.
Stick with it, analyze your images relentlessly, and before you know it, you’ll be reacting instinctively to capture peak action with beautiful sharpness, framing, and artistry. The ultimate reward is preserving birds at their most dynamic, awe-inspiring potential.
