Photographing Yellow Rumped Warblers on Our New Deck

July 7, 2016Warblersnmckown

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Who Else is Up There?

I can identify most of the birdsongs of the regular avian visitors in our yard. Not infrequently, I hear an unfamiliar tune belonging to a bird who must be residing high in the trees or in the shadows.

New birdsong is compelling because:

It’s nice to know they’re up there—probably many more bird families than I think- either discretely passing through or nesting undercover;
I have to identify the species and figure out how to coax them to come down near the camera. NOTE: If a particular birdsong is completely mysterious, I try to isolate it and record it on my phone. I then upload it to the Whatbird.com for the bird auditory experts to ID.
It’s always a challenge to figure out the best placement for my camera – taking into consideration stealth, quality of light, and proximity to my subjects.

Photo of Yellow Rumped Warbler — Yellow Rumped Warbler.
Backlit from the Morning Sun.
ISO1600; f/6.3; 1/400 Second

Creating An Tempting Setting For New Birds

To attract some of the birds we know are up there but never see, we cleared a few low-lying straggly trees near the back end of the house, installed a deck and planted a variety of endemic plants to attract pollinators, beneficial insects and birds.

Off on the eastern edge of this structure, we installed a natural stone basalt recirculating fountain. It is the key to enticing the birds to venture down from on high. Burbling and in harmony with its surroundings, the three stones darken and glow as water circulates down. Little maintenance (except for a few drops of bird safe, environmentally friendly algicide) is required because the water flow design makes it basically self cleaning. The soft gurgling sound of the water attracts bathing birds… birds that we normally don’t see at the feeders.

We set up a couple perches just above and to the side of the fountains so the birds could settle and check out their surroundings before they hopped into the water streams. The lush, green and woodsy background was situated 10-12 feet behind the perches so as to create the perfect Bokeh.

NOTE: A pleasant Bokeh amounts to nothing if there is no enticing subject.

Comfort Levels

Visually, this deck looked like the perfect place to set up the tripod and camera and make myself comfortable in a deck chair. But those rarely seen birds up high are the more cautious ones. They clearly prefer to have a wide personal space between themselves and humans, so a camera setup and photographer fairly close and in full view on the deck just may cancel out the allure of the bubbly fountain.

Proximity Problems

The birds did not come- at least not while I sat on the deck. Birds were coming when I wasn’t on the deck. I could see them indulging in the cool waters when I was inside the house. Apparently I was too close for their comfort. So, I hauled up my blind from the basement, left it assembled on the deck for a couple days so the birds could get use to it, then climbed in with my gear to wait. Still nothing!

My proximity seemed to be the issue. We have a glass door in the bedroom which opens on to the deck. The distance between this door and the perches near the fountain is little far, but if I have my 1.4 extender attached to the 500mm lens, I can make it work.

Door open and camera setup inside the house, I pointed the long lens toward the perches and sat down to wait. Before too long, I had several species of birds coming in to bathe who clearly saw me, but were comfortable with my distance. This Yellow Rumped Warbler was one of the first of the new birds to venture close.

Other Deck Visitors

I was feeling pretty pleased with myself – checking exposure, rearranging my setup, drinking my coffee, and checking my phone while I waited. It wasn’t long before I noticed half a dozen or so confrontational looking hornets working on their nest situated right above me at the top of the door between the glass and the screen.

I was heavily distracted by those hornets, but too stubborn to relocate. I kept nervously looking up to see if the hornets were noticing me. They weren’t, but to be comfortable and on task, I’m was going to have to get rid of that hornets’ nest.

Photographing the Yellow Rumped Warbler

I sat there another hour or so, long enough to capture these shots of the Yellow Rumped Warbler. He definitely noticed my proximity, and even the hornets, but lingered long enough to get a drink and before he flew off.

Usually when I photograph warblers, they are tucked deep within the foliage. It nice once in a while to capture their beauty on an isolated branch, without the having to work around the tangled and thorny thickets that are their natural habitat.

I can’t wait to see what other newcomers come to drink at the fountain.

Photographing a Veery Thrush – Understanding Burst Modes

June 30, 2016Thrushesnmckown

Photographing A Veery Thrush

I was very pleased to spot this Veery Thrush in our yard, if only momentarily, because this species is a rather infrequent visitor here. They forage like Robins, on the ground flipping over leaf debris to uncover insects and worms underneath. According to E-bird, Veery Thrushes spend their winters only in Central and Southern Brazil and nest throughout Michigan, in the Northern US, and Southern Canada. This was my first photographic encounter, and it was made to order.

This handsome, cinnamon brown thrush first appeared on a branch near our dining room window. I hurried to the library door, then abruptly changed my pace and posture so that I was tiptoeing slowly and ducking down so as not to startle him as I made my way to the camera. (NOTE: I did this despite every instinct inside urging me to hurry before he flew off.) Once I reached the camera, all I had to do is point, lock focus and burst away.

Photo of Veery Thrush — Veery Thrush
ISO1600; f/7.1; 1/640 Second

What is Bursting?

The FPS (Frames per Second) is the speed at which the camera shutter mechanism can take uninterrupted shots. The Burst Rate specifies how many uninterrupted shots the shutter mechanism can discharge without slowing down.

FPS and Bursting are all about how fast and how many- and that means that DSLR cameras must have fast processing power and design logistics calculated to eliminate bottlenecks.

Advantages of Bursting

Bursting can be useful and fun..and for the most part, it’s FREE.
In bird photography, you just don’t know how long your subject will stay put. Bursting allows you to capture many images in seconds.
Bursting is essential to record a sequence and tell a story – during a period that is most likely to be a brief and rare opportunity.

Veery Thrush
ISO800; f/7.1; 1/500 Second

Some Things to Consider when Bursting

Inherent mechanical limitation of camera’s shutter device. (NOTE: My cameras’ shutters are rated at 150,000 actuations.)
Data processing speed of camera’s processor.
Within one burst, no adjustments can be made to aperture and shutter settings. (As you can see in the notes below the photos, the shutter speeds are different for the photos….. which means that these photos were taken in separate bursting sessions.)
Continuous bursts will capture a lot of identical photos- unless the action is really fast.
Max burst and FPS touted by camera manufacturer will slow if your shutter is set to a slower speed.
If you’ve got 2 memory cards installed and/or are writing to 2 memory cards, processing will slow down.
If your camera is set to RAW; processing will take longer to move through the much larger files.
If the camera stops, it has most likely reached a bottleneck due to an overload of files, or does not have enough battery power to proceed.
Slower memory cards with limited read/write speeds will create bottlenecks.
A half charged battery will slow down processing…. and the battery will drain quickly if bursting continues.
Whenever a camera has to re-meter and/or re-focus, bursting slows down. (In Canon cameras, AlServo auto focus will slow down fps- especially if it must keep trying to lock focus.)
The hidden cost with bursting: The photographer must devote lots of time in post processing to review all those images.
Bursting often places the photographer in “auto mode”, where the discipline to capture outstanding bird images may be put on hold.
Ultimately the burst will stop… no matter the sophistication of the camera.

Choices – How Fast? How Quiet?

Assuming a bird photographer has a DSLR camera designed to burst and then move data through fast, there are also choices about what burst mode is best for bird photography. You can choose between High Speed Continuous and Low Speed Continuous burst mode…. or really slow down and choose Silent High Speed Continuous or Silent Low Speed Continuous burst mode.

I use to think that the louder shutter slapping sound would scare away birds, so I always set the camera to Silent Continuous burst mode. I don’t do that anymore because the silent modes are not noiseless. When set to Silent HS continuous or Silent LS continuous, the striking sound is a muffled slap..definitely more diminished, but you and the birds will most certainly hear it.

When to Use Bursting

When I first spot a bird, I always assume that the encounter will be fleeting. My camera is usually set to Low Speed Continuous Burst Mode, just in case I need it. Once I lock focus on a bird, I press and hold the shutter down and hear that machine-gun staccato burst from my shutter mechanism. If the bird does not fly away, I am more judicious as to how much I use bursting.

Depending on the scenario, the bird photographer must decide. Will I end up with more usable bird images with or without the camera set to burst mode?

Photographing a Henslow Sparrow In His Element

June 23, 2016Sparrows and Finchesnmckown

Photographing a Henslow Sparrow

We arrived at 7:00 am – long past the late May sunrise. Dew drops on the long gold and green grasses sparkled in the morning sunlight. Stinking of bug repellent, we parked the cars on the side of the road, grabbed our camera gear and followed our friend down and up through the wet ditch, then trekked onward through the fields toward the grasslands where he had spotted a couple Henslow Sparrows. Careful to stay on the field path so as not to disturb the nests in the grasses, I set up my camera, 500mm lens with 1.4 extender.

Photo of Henslow Sparrow — Henslow Sparrow.
ISO800; f/9; 1/1000 Second

NOTE: I had thought my Rolly cart would be useful to haul camera equipment on this trek, but after learning about the saturated fields and deep ditches, I was convinced otherwise. Note #2: Cradled in my arms, the camera gear stayed dry, but my cotton jeans were soaking wet minutes into this adventure. I really need to get those multi pocketed, bug resistant, quick drying nylon trail pants.

Two Extroverted Henslows

The Henslow is a strikingly handsome sparrow. His back and breast feathers sport black teardrop shaped patterns atop a background of chestnut brown. His heavy beak protrudes prominently on his large, somewhat flat head. Thick black lines accenting his dark eyes blaze across his yellow face– with one black stripe extending down the center of his face and onto his upper beak. His uneven, straggly tail feathers fanned out when he perched.

According to my birding manual, the Henslow Sparrow lurks unseen in the tangled grasses and often slips away undetected if an intruder appears. This was not our experience. We saw at least two extroverted and spunky males in the distant grasses, each carving out a smallish territory and boldly flying from leaf to branch to defend it. We heard their lusty songs before we parked, and they sang vigorously atop grasses and raspberry stalks the whole time we photographed them.

Beauty Enhanced in Its Element

So often in bird photography, the image background, though pertinent because it is part of the bird’s natural environment, is unmanageable, distracting, overbearing or sadly detrimental to the overall artistic layout of the image. This is especially true in warbler habitats.

A Ready Made Flawless Bokeh

A grassy field in early morning is different. If the field is full of tall and wild golden grasses and the sun is low in the sky (and you make sure that the skyline is not in the viewfinder) it’s hard not to create a fabulous Bokeh infused with soft and seamless shades of glowing gold.

Light and Wind

Bright light is essential. If the morning sun is heavily filtered, you won’t see the background vibrancy in your images. A spirited wind buffeting the grasses adds more dimension because the background blur becomes more curvy. Wind swept grasses fashion their own animated, artful flow that express themselves in complex, undulating seamless patterns once the shutter is released.

A soft and gentle breeze can change instantaneously to a vigorous surge and compromise sharp focus. I had to be watchful of my exposure settings. NOTE: Instead of being displaced by the wind, little songbirds are generally agile enough to to balance their weight, go with the flow, and hold on.

Adjusting Camera Position

Framing an authentic and beautiful image background was not a problem in the wind blown grassy fields where these Henslow Sparrows nest. The whole time we were there, I could easily move the camera and tripod, enabling me to not only better track the sparrows’ movements, but also recompose the scene. I was able to change out the green and gold background colors and the lines and curves of the grasses and branches around which the sparrows perched. NOTE: Repositioning the camera also helps when the photographer wants to adjust exposure settings, avoid lens flare, or take advantage of different types of directional lighting. The freedom to frequently recompose the scene during a bird photography shoot is uncommon, but can produce a collection of vibrant image backgrounds.

On the Decline

Everything came together that morning- creating perfect conditions in which to photograph this lovely Sparrow. Sadly, Federal and State agencies report that the Henslow Sparrows are hard to find and their numbers are on the decline due to the loss and/or fragmentation of their breeding habitat; open field prairie filled with dense grassland. More information on the Henslow can be found at this link.

Photographing the Black Throated Blue Warbler – Spring Migration Has Past

June 16, 2016Warblersnmckown

A Peaceful Morning on the Deck

It’s mid morning in early June; the sunlight is heavily filtered in our yard. I catch the sweet scent of Locust flowers on the breeze and hear the soft droning of honey bees as they feast on the nectar rich Locust blossoms high above. As I set up the camera I think about how the birds must be feasting up there as well.

Chipmunks are everywhere this spring, fashioning their homes within the confines of the Sassafras and Locust logs densely stacked between tree trunks. They pause every few steps to check around for predators as they forage for food dropped below the feeders. Lots of impromptu and playful chasing going on.

On my deck, delicate single web threads join trees and furniture and sway with the soft wind. I can barely feel these silk gossamers as I move about with my camera equipment and disrupt their tenuous holds. These lines of gauze belong to the tiniest of spiders-and warblers seek them out.

Photo of Black Throated Blue Warbler — Black throated Blue Warbler
ISO1250; f/5.6; 1/400 Second

Photographing a Black Throated Blue Warbler

This Black Throated Blue Warbler did not seem especially shy- or perhaps he was just desperately thirsty from his long migration journey north. In any case, he came in close to the fountain for a drink, heedless of the camera and me.

The perch he chose was perfect….. at least 10 feet between the woodsy background and the bird. Because of the low light, I opened up the aperture and shot at a relatively slow (for birds) shutter speed. The bokeh, brown tinged with green, with no seams and no visible outlines of the tree trunks and brush in the background, complements the ragged, lichen draped perch and the bird’s plumage.

Black Throated Blue Warblers nest in the Blue Ridge Mountain range and also in Northeastern United States and Eastern Canada. They are known to seek out vast tracks of forests for their nesting grounds, so it is likely that they made their homes in SouthWest MI long ago. Come fall, they will migrate south to the Gulf States and the Caribbean.

The male Black Throated Blue Warbler keeps his distinctive blue and black plumage year round. The female mostly blends, like a lot of other female warblers. I photographed the female Black Throated Warbler last fall with her dull olive plumage and subtle white lines above the eyes.

A Slow Migration Season

This spring, a total of six warbler species stopped to rest in our yard and within the camera’s view. None came so boldly as this Black Throated Blue Warbler.

The migration season for warblers is past. During most of April and May, my cameras and I have been at the ready. I’ve watched the leaves mature and reach out to take their share of the available light. This Spring, we’ve had very little success photographing migrators, despite our warbler friendly yard filled with thicketed and overgrown brush. I know millions of birds are coming through just as they’ve done for millennia, I’m just not seeing them. Jealously, I note that lots of luckier bird photographers are posting splendidly colorful finds. All I can do is continue my search and hope my luck gets better come Fall migration.

I’ve updated my Spring 2016 migration Flickr page. Looking over my past images, it seems I have more luck photographing warblers during Fall Migration. Another adventure to look forward to!

Photographing Cape May Warblers and Customized Shooting Modes

June 9, 2016Warblersnmckown

Photographing A Cape May Warbler

In Spring, migrating warblers are eye candy, most especially the males. This Cape May Warbler with his prominent chestnut cheek patches and brightly streaked head and chest perched right outside my (closed) window. He did not appear frightened by me or the camera, so much so that I considered opening the window. After a minute or so, he bolted for more satisfying territory, but not before I was able to get off a few through-the-glass-window shots.

Cape May Warblers winter in tropical climates (S. Florida, Caribbean, West Indies and Mexico) where they are known to feast on nectar collected with their curled and semi tubular tongues. They migrate long distances to breed in Northern U.S .and the Canadian woods where their preferred food is spruce budworms. In SW Michigan, we see only a few of them in the Spring and Fall.

Photo of Cape May Warbler — Cape May Warbler
ISO1600; f/6.3; 1/640 Second.
Through the Glass Window shot

User Settings

Whether I plan to drive to a birding location or am surprised by a warbler outside my window, it’s relatively easy for me to make sure that all settings for both my cameras are properly adjusted at what I consider to be optimal for the intended shooting location. This not so short checklist of settings includes: white balance, max auto iso, one shot or continuous shooting mode, metering mode, live view, video, exposure compensation, file format, aperture, shutter speed, ISO, minimum and maximum ISO/Shutter settings, image size, picture style, autofocus modes, autofocus point selection, P, Tv, Av or M shooting mode, etc. (Whew!)

Both of my cameras see a lot of action in different locations, consequently I have to be able to make setting adjustments as quickly as possible to accommodate different environments.

Instant Recall

This Cape May Warbler departed as fast as he came. As is often the case, there was no time to even think about complex camera configurations. The knowledge and experience stored in my brain is not necessarily instantaneously retrievable, especially in the heat of an exciting bird sighting. I will more than likely miss some action if I take my eyes off the bird to try to remember how to adjust something like the autofocus point selection.

Custom Shooting Modes

Modern DSLR cameras have storage and instant recall functions called “custom shooting modes” into which you can register or preset preferred settings and functions. (NOTE: The camera’s memory cards are not used for this task.) When you set up custom shooting modes, the camera saves to memory your favorite camera settings which are then retrievable with a flick of a switch. The camera’s long term memory will hold your preferences until you change them.

I use all three of the customized shooting modes that are available to me on my Canon cameras. C1 and C2 are used for my birding adventures and C3 for family/people photography. These presets allow me to confidently operate “on-the-fly”.

Easy Setup

Custom Shooting Modes help make prepping for bird photography simplier. Canon menu systems provide a very straightforward process to activate custom shooting modes, and best of all, you don’t have to start from scratch to configure your first C mode. Just set the camera as you usually do right before you go out in the field. Then register these settings quickly in the menu by going to “custom shooting mode” and then the “tools” tab. Assign a C1, C2 or C3 designation, then OK, the SET. Other more in-depth options are available if you wish to customize further, like: 1) clear your settings whenever you want; 2) program new settings over the old; or 3) enable “Change Auto Update Set” to permanently retain new additions to a group.

Store What You Know

It’s fun to experiment with the range of options available in sophisticated DSLR cameras, but it’s best to set up your custom shooting modes in a thoughtful, non-rushed way. These presets are not a place to store hardly ever needed, adventurous stuff that will not be useful in the heat of the moment and will soon be forgotten, or worse, accidentally triggered. Take the time to think about what you want and need for different bird photography scenarios and then make them available instantly by flicking on the custom shooting modes C1, C2, or C3 on the camera’s mode dial.

Presetting your custom shooting modes into the camera before going on your bird photography adventure is all about anticipating what might happen – and then being ready when it does.

Photographing a Male Scarlet Tanager; My Nemesis No More

June 2, 2016Tanagernmckown

Photographing a Male Scarlet Tanager

Not long ago, I complained that I only was able to find and photograph distant and sky high female Scarlet Tanagers. Now I am thrilled to report that a male Scarlet Tanager came into our yard and perched on an isolated limb at camera level close to our fountain. It was a heavily clouded morning, so the ISO for these images shot right up, but regardless, I was ready. Well, mostly ready.

Photo of Scarlet Tanager — Scarlet Tanager
ISO2000; f/6.3; 1/400 Second

Not Quite Ready

The Scarlet Tanager’s plumage startled me at first. Lustrous and exotic, the radiant red feathers covering most of his body contrasted strongly with his pitch black wings.

When I’m out in the field with my camera, I’m usually the one who does the startling. However, at that juncture in bird photography time…in that short space between stimulus and response when I am ordinarily able to quickly react, I was instead dumbfounded, mouth hanging open, and experiencing one of those I-can’t-believe-this-bird-is-right-in-front-of-my-camera moments. Luckily something snapped inside me and I was able to rally all my forces to take a couple photos before this astonishing bird flew away.

Photo of Male Scarlet Tanager — Male Scarlet Tanager.
ISO3200; f/6.3; 1/400 Second

Whew!

I’ll have to come up with a new nemesis now, possibly the ever illusive Prothonotary Warbler.

Photographing A Chestnut Sided Warbler and Why Maximum Aperture Matters

May 26, 2016Warblersnmckown

Photographing A Chestnut Sided Warbler

This fetching male Chestnut Sided Warbler arrived one late morning to the Service Berry tree in our yard. Lots of bird activity draws even more birds, I believe, and there was partying going on at the feeders.

The light was just right. The histogram revealed a nice balance of dark and light variation. The 1/400 shutter speed captured the moment sharply thanks in part to the relatively low ISO.

What a beauty! This spring specimen flaunts a bright yellow cap, black elongated eye stripes atop a white face, glossy chestnut colored streaks on its flanks and a complementing touch of yellow on the wing bars.

I photographed the female Chestnut Sided Warbler last Fall. I was not so lucky in proximity for that shoot and had to use a 2.0 extender on my 500mm lens to get the magnification I needed.

Photo of Chestnut Sided Warbler — Chestnut Sided Warbler
ISO800; f/6.3; 1/400 Second

Why Aperture Size Impacts Autofocus

Whenever I read about tele extenders, dire warnings about potential focusing problems surface. I find the literature on this subject to be somewhat baffling, or perhaps just incomplete, so I did some more research.

The basic question: Why might autofocus be compromised when I attach a 1.4 or 2.0 extender to a telephoto lens?

It really depends on the lens – or more specifically, the maximum aperture of the lens. (See this post to learn more about the basics of aperture.)

Attaching an extender to a lens effectively narrows the the size of the len’s max aperture. A 1.4 extender shifts the len’s max aperture one stop smaller; a 2.0 extender shifts the len’s max aperture two stops smaller.

The Downside – Less Light

If the len’s maximum aperture becomes smaller when you attach an extender, light transmission through the lens is reduced. Example: My 300mm lens 2.8 L II lens with a 2x extender would lose 2 stops. As I look through the viewfinder I would see the equivalent of a f/5.6 aperture. That’s significantly less light. So What?

In order for you to see optimally through the viewfinder, you need light. In order for the camera and lens to accurately auto focus, they need light. When preparing to take a photo, the len is always set to its widest aperture for auto focus purposes. It immediately stops down to the aperture needed for correct exposure when the shutter is released.

Modern AutoFocus Point Technology

Modern multiple focus point technology (selectable and non-selectable assist points) is engineered to deal with a wide variety of action, accurately and fast. But autofocus points need light to work. With an active bird, you increase your chances of accurate focus if the maximum aperture of your lens lets in a lot of light. As the max aperture is reduced (as is the case when you attach an extender) the lens slows down and does a lot more hunting, especially on a low light cloudy day, and most especially when multiple focus points are activated.

(NOTE: See this post to learn more about using multiple focus points.)

Should I Attach A Tele Extender to My Lens?

If you have a lens letting in a lot of light (2.0 or 2.8 maximum aperture), the camera’s access points have sufficient light with which to autofocus. Attaching a tele extender to this lens would be no problem. However, a lens with an extender narrowing the max aperture to f/5.6 or f/8 may have insufficient light and/or contrast, causing some autofocus points to be slow or not operational. NOTE: The center auto focus point will most likely work because it will get the most light.

If you have a modern DSLR camera and are wondering how many auto focus points are actually working with a lens and extender attached, you can check. Activate all auto focus points, look through the viewfinder, press the shutter half way, and see how many light up.

Manual Focus to the Rescue

If autofocus does not work, you are left with manual focus. Looking through a relatively dark viewfinder may hinder your ability to get an accurate fix in manual focus. NOTE: I find it hard to manually focus without lots of light so I generally switch the camera to Live View and focus from the LCD screen instead of thru the viewfinder. (More info on Live View is available at this post.)

Variable Aperture Zoom Lenses

Just to complicate this issue, some zoom lenses have variable apertures; meaning the max aperture available changes depending on the focal length. Example: Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM Lens. The widest aperture of this lens is f/4.5 at 100mm and f/5.6 at 400mm.

Here’s a photo of the female Chestnut Sided Warbler:

Photographing A Blue Gray Gnatcatcher and Choosing Between Shooting Modes

May 19, 2016Gnatcatchersnmckown

Photographing A Blue Gray Gnatcatcher

When I first saw this tiny songbird through the lens, he was looking back at me with an inquisitive look on his face. (Birds usually take flight at the sight of the camera, especially when it’s so close.) I kept my wits, aimed the camera and set off a burst of continuous shots. Seconds later he lost interest in me and hopped to a different branch. Initially, I confused this diminutive wonder for a warbler because of his thin straight bill and flitting behavior while foraging for food. But once I was able to see a profile of his body, especially those swishing long tail feathers, I knew he was a gnatcatcher.

My camera was set to continuous shooting drive mode paired with Al Servo focusing. Without that pairing, I simply would not have been able to capture multiple shots in sharp focus of this fast moving little bird.

Photo of Blue Gray Gnatcatcher — Blue Gray Gnatcatcher Looking
Back at the Camera.
ISO1600; f/6.3; 1/640 Second

Don’t Confuse Shooting Mode with Focus Mode

Lots of photographers confuse shooting modes with focusing modes. They are very separate functions, even though they work hand-in-hand.

Shooting Modes simply control how the shutter release operates- including self timers. There are seven shooting modes available on modern Canon DSLR cameras:

Single shooting mode
High Speed Continuous shooting mode
Low Speed Continuous shooting mode
Silent Single shooting mode
Silent Continuous shooting mode
Self Timer 10 sec remote
Self Timer 2 sec remote

Focus Modes kick in immediately after the shutter is depressed (autofocus only) and determine how the camera will achieve focus. Modern DSLR Canon cameras have 4 focusing modes:

Manual Focus (no autofocus)
One Shot Autofocus (will initiate focus once)
Al Servo Priority Autofocus (continually tracks and updates focus)
AI Focus (automatically alternates between One Shot and Al Servo modes, depending on the situation)

Shooting Mode Paired with Focusing Mode

Once you choose a shooting mode, it’s critical to understand and decide how the camera will focus in this shooting mode.

If Single Shot Shooting (1 or 4 above) mode is paired with One Shot Focusing mode, the camera will lock down focus once (and ding if it is set to ding) every time you press the shutter. (NOTE: If the camera can not lock down focus, the shutter will not fire, no matter how much you push it.)

If Single Shot Shooting (1 or 4 above) mode is paired with Al Servo Continuous Focusing mode, the shutter will burst in quick succession (cache and memory card size allowing) as long as you hold down the shutter button, but auto focus will not continually adjust focus after that first shot. All shots taken after the first shot will be based on how the camera focused the first shot. (No good in fast moving and chaotic bird photography.)

If Continuous Shooting (2, 3, or 5 above) mode is paired with Manual Autofocus mode, you can burst away all you want, but the lens will not focus unless you do it manually. (Read more about Manual focus here.)

If Continuous Shooting (2,3, or 5 above) mode is paired with Al Servo Continuous Focusing mode, the camera will initiate and manage focusing operations after that first shot, as long as you continually hold down the shutter. (The photographer must accurately track the subject for this pairing to be worthwhile.)

Al Servo Paired with Continuous Shooting

I almost always pair a continuous shooting drive mode with Al Servo Priority Autofocus mode for bird photography. With this pairing, Al Servo Autofocus can “predict” and keep focusing the lens during the continuous shooting burst —as long as I make sure that the focus points (whether all of them or just one) can find the target.

How Fast is Al Servo Paired with Continuous Shooting?

When you pair a continuous shooting drive mode with Al Servo Priority Autofocus mode, how fast your camera is able to “burst” during continuous shooting depends on the following:

The size of your camera’s buffer (especially if you are shooting RAW)
Inherent limitations of the camera and lens
The size and speed of memory card
The Al Servo priority autofocus settings. (Huh?)

More Settings for Al Servo Priority

NOTE: This is an example of when menu complexity in a DSLR camera can be daunting. It’s no wonder that a lot of photographers prefer to use their camera’s default settings; or perhaps just fiddle with one or two plain vanilla automatic functions and use those forever, no matter the shooting environment.

One more thing must be customized in the menu after you have paired Continuous Shooting Drive Mode with Al Servo Priority focusing mode. You must also choose how you want the camera to prioritize focusing.

The following settings are available:

Prioritize burst speed,
Prioritize focus accuracy; or
Prioritize a balance between the two.

My Choice: Maximize Sharp Focus

Prioritize focus accuracy is an easy choice for me. In bird photography, I always, always want tack sharp photos, so I am willing to sacrifice frame-per-second (FPS) burst rate speed. When I choose focus accuracy over burst speed, my keeper rate is higher. The continuous burst may be slower, more interrupted -especially in low light-causing me to miss some of the action. That’s OK with me.

I will do whatever it takes not to compromise sharpness.

More information on the Al Servo Mode Autofocus Tracking is available at this link.

Photographing Red Bellied Woodpeckers and Thoughts From a Camera Aficionado

May 12, 2016Woodpeckersnmckown

Photographing Red Bellied Woodpeckers

An assortment of Woodpeckers live in or visit our heavily wooded yard, but the Red Bellied is the most prominent year round resident. (Odd name, since only a slight tint of red can be found on their bellies.) The males sport a prominent red crown, right above that chiseling beak common to woodpeckers. While probing and excavating for food, these birds strategically prop their tail feathers down on their perch for balance. Most prominent on all woodpeckers are their oversized clinging 4 toed feet (zygodactyl – two toes forward, two toes back). Drumbeat roll from these guys tap-tap-tapping on trees =19 taps per second.

Red Bellied Woodpeckers are easy to photograph because they often cling to bare tree trunks and inch up and down methodically with their back feathers dragging behind. This male Red Bellied posed for me on a limb with ample morning light and no background distractions. He stayed less than a minute, but it was long enough for me to capture a couple shots.

Red Bellied Woodpecker
ISO500; f/7.1; 1/640 Second

Read all About It

Can’t help but notice that Canon’s newest flagship camera (EOS-1D X Mark II) was due out in the Spring of 2016- right about now. Apparently, stores like Adorama, B&H, and others offered sample prototypes (for a day, a week?) to their favorite (and incredibly lucky!) photographers in exchange for writing a review. (Some restrictions did apply on the type of photos they could publish.) These teaser reviews get photographers like me salivating about owning a camera that is packed with spectacular image quality and state of the art creative control.

Photo of Red Bellied Woodpecker — Red Bellied Woodpecker
ISO400; f/7.1; 1/640 Second

Crazy?

Am I CRAZY to want to own this camera? The updated EOS-1D X Mark II is very pricy–$5999- too pricy considering that it’s not a good long term investment. Top of the line DSLR professional cameras do not keep their value like Canon’s premium lenses.

Like computers, every camera upgrade brings enhanced speed, quality, and capacity- so much so that, after getting use to it, you wonder how you got along without it. For the last 15-20 years, I’ve always purchased Canon’s 2nd tier and 3rd tier more affordable DSLR cameras. These cameras are enticing because they typically contained two or three components that have trickled down from Canon’s best imaging technology.

Bottom line: 5 years ago I would have scoffed at the idea of buying this camera. I always presumed that the whole flagship DSLR camera package was not only out of my reach, but unnecessary. At this point in my photographic adventures, I’m considering it.

Expectations and Potential

This newest flagship camera is all about expectations and potential. A few reviewers out there grumble that it’s a toy for the rich and that the enhancements over the last flagship model are just superficial- not worthy the upgraded “Canon D X Mark II” label. But I don’t think so. This camera is an admittedly expensive investment for bird photographers (professionals and amateurs) who take their work seriously and find pure, unadulterated delight in the possibilities of a cutting edge tool.

Camera Aficionado

I’ve always been a camera aficionado, carefully attentive to equipment and always tuned in to pioneering developments as they relates my extravagant fondness for bird photography. New, more complex electronic and mechanical contrivances are an essential part of my challenge. A new camera brings with it an aura of wonder – surprise mingled with admiration–not only because it’s bigger- better-faster, but because I have to understand what makes it tick.

Make no mistake. This new equipment won’t solve problems of poor lighting, entice a Red Bellied Woodpecker to come closer or even show up in the first place. The challenge, the rewards, the adventure, the striving to get better, the thrill of success—all these things are possible with a lesser camera.

But that’s not what I’m looking for at this time in my life. I want to devote time and initiative to new gear (trappings?) that force me to be quick and nimble, go past old boundaries and struggle to better understand the potential and rewards of the new imaging technology.

A Girl Can Dream

When everything’s said and done, this camera sounds fabulous and I want one. It has an advanced Digic 6+ processor and faster bursting, (with enhanced buffer and memory card storage to accomodate), a more precise 360,000 pixel RGB+IR metering sensor, and a more advanced 3D auto focus and tracking system. I can expect to see more comprehensive dynamic range in my images, better detail (in the shadows) at higher ISOs, and better camera stability due to a new springless mirror assembly that minimizes bounce.

I write a lot about sensor quality…. so this is my favorite part. The full size sensor is 20.2 megapixels with increased sensitivity engineered to keep the ISO low when light is scarce, especially in the dark portions of the image. When the light is so inadequate that ISO must rise and compensate (especially in my yard) the quality of high ISO images from this new sensor promises to be much better than its predecessors.

My biggest disappointment so far: No cropped-sensor options; no 4:5, 1:1, APS-C or other crop options as have been included on the 5DS megapixel cameras.

The list goes on and on. Build-wise, it most certainly is rugged enough to outlive me –though probably won’t outlive my interest for the new and exciting.

I will sell the old to make way for the new and bite the bullet. I might hold off on this purchase just to see if other photographers who use this camera day-in and day-out are impressed.

Buyer’s remorse may come, but, on the other hand; “You can get what you want or you can just get old.” (Billy Joel)

NOTE: Press this link for more information on my thoughts about the Canon’s 50 DS R 50 Megapixal cameras.

Photographing a Northern Harrier and Trusting the Camera’s Autofocus

May 5, 2016Raptorsnmckown

Trusting the Camera’s Autofocus

For a long time, I did not dare to venture into the confusing maze of menus that controls auto focusing on modern DSLR cameras. I was too comfortable with the Single Point AutoFocus, thus limiting the multi-point focusing functions of the camera and using only one, center based AF point. Keeping a moving bird’s head or body contained in just one focus point is not easy, especially if the bird is bouncing in and out of the frame and you are in the limited panning environment of a vehicle. I used single point autofocus so much because I felt I could trust my bird tracking and panning abilities more than the camera’s technology to react fast and lock focus on target. That’s a mistake in bird photography.

Auto Focus Compromised From the Start

For this shoot, autofocus was compromised from the start. The Northern Harrier was embraced within tightly packed brambles and grasses. His plumage blended well with the foreground and background – so much so that there was not a lot of contrasting color to separate the surroundings from the target and help the auto focusing mechanism lock focus. Worst of all, the bird was NOT anywhere near to filling the frame.

NOTE: The distance between the bird and the lens alone was enough for me to pass up the shot. However, this bird just happened to be a Northern Harrier, a handsome and unfamiliar raptor, so I had to go for it.

Photo of Northern Harrier — Northern Harrier at Liftoff,
Extreme Enlargement
ISO800; f/9; 1/1600 Second

Check AutoFocus Settings

For a long time, I assumed that if the images I took looked decidedly out of focus, it was because I somehow mishandled the camera. I also wondered if perhaps my expensive 500mm lens needed to be re-calibrated or sent to Canon Service to bring it back to factory specifications. Auto focus can go wrong for a lot of reasons, both camera/lens related and user error, but one of the first things photographers should check is the autofocus settings within the camera menu system.

Different Focusing Scenarios

Canon DSLR cameras offer 6 different auto focusing choices. You must choose one option from the six (6) “case scenarios” that you think best fits the focusing challenges you will be faced with in the field. You then customize that one chosen scenario by deciding how intensely you want the following three (3) focusing functions to respond: a) Tracking Sensitivity, b) Accelerating and De-accelerating tracking; and c) Auto-Focus Point Auto Switching.

My Auto Focus Settings

I have set and re-set these functions many times on both my cameras. I have erred on the side of restricting the cameras too much for most of the bird photography challenges I encounter.

I have had the most success when my cameras are set to the Case #2 scenario. The Canon manual defines Case #2 Auto Focusing as: “The camera will try to continue focusing the subject even if an obstacle enters the AF points or if the subject strays from the AF points. Effective when there may be an obstacle blocking the subject or when you do not want to focus the background.”

Once you match a case scenario to the conditions in the field, the camera’s auto focus system will be able to evaluate the scene and automatically adjust focus so much faster than the photographer can do manually.

Within the Case #2 Focusing Scenario, I have adjusted the “behaviors” of Case #2 as follows:

Tracking Sensitivity

As I track the bird in this mode, the tracking sensitivity is programmed to stay with the original subject (set at -1). Intruding obstacles (like blowing grasses, other birds, tree trunks, irate DNR officers) do not distract focusing from the primary target. (NOTE: If you do want the camera to track focus on anything that intervenes with your target, set it to +1 or +2 .)

Accelerating and De-Accelerating Tracking

It’s almost impossible to predict where, when and how fast the bird will fly off. I set the accelerating and de-accelerating tracking to immediately respond to the movement of the bird. Mine is set to -1.

Auto Focus Point Auto Switching

Having multiple points to help keep track of your subject is very advantageous. What is even better in fast and unpredictable situations is when the camera is programmed to follow the action and immediately switch as needed to activate the best auto focus points within the range of the viewfinder. Mine is set to +1

Activate Auto Focus Points

Once you engage the lightning fast, predictive auto focusing system that best fits your birding environment, don’t constrain it by setting the camera to use only one focusing point within the auto focus area selection options. You can be cautious and use the more limited zone focusing or let loose and activate the entire focus point system. (On Canon’s more modern cameras, 61 autofocus points are available.)

Then, once your autofocus settings match your bird photography scenario, it’s just a matter of watching and waiting; and hoping that the bird will take off sooner rather than later because of your aching back and neck.

NOTE: Canon 5 D Mark III cameras allow you to quickly switch between Zone AF and 61 point automatic selection AF. See this link and for more information.