Shooting birds as they fly is one of the hardest jobs in photography. It seems like you shoot all morning and get maybe 3 decent shots. But there is a better way to get a higher success rate. You just need to set your camera for “bird shooting mode”.
BIRD SHOOTING MODE
- Set your autofocus drive to “continuous” or “servo”, since you will be shooting moving subjects.
- Use all autofocus points, not just the center point.
- Turn image stabilization OFF
- Use Shutter Priority, and set your shutter speed at 1/1000 or higher
- Set your metering mode to “spot metering”
- Set ISO to “auto”
- If focus is a problem, try center point focusing, still in continuous or servo focus mode
- If you are using a long, heavy lens, you might want to use a monopod for support. The tradeoff is that it will be harder to track the bird if he is moving fast
- Set your drive mode to “continuous”or “multiple” and shoot fast!
