Eagle BIFs; Subtleties Make a Difference

[NorthernFocus]

I was going through images that I shot last week and thought these might be interesting to share, particularly for less experienced shooters. Just a quick demo of how small angles can make a difference.

Conventional wisdom for BIF shots is that the bird should be coming toward the camera or at least broadside. Once the bird passes perpendicular to the camera(i.e. offside wing is visible behind the close side wing) 90 percent of the time the shot is(or should be) a cull. Example below

1) Bird is past perpendicular but head is turned to maintain eye contact. The bird was watching another eagle in case it came after his catch and made for a dynamic shot.

2) 1/4 second, one wing beat, and a slight turn of the head back forward sends this one to the bin. Slightly clipped primaries don't help either

Even with the bird incoming slight changes in angle can make a big difference.

3) Not a bad angle but eye contact isn't so good.

4) 1/3 of a second later, much better.

 

[RichF]

great images. #4 is stellar

 

[Whiskeyman]

Oh, to have such problems!

 

[Lance B]

Great shots and a wonderful series, Dan!

 

[BrianBirch]

Great images and thank you for the tutorial! Having just started photographing birds, this is invaluable information.

 

[Butlerkid]

Great information and images! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Ralph]

I was going through images that I shot last week and thought these might be interesting to share, particularly for less experienced shooters. Just a quick demo of how small angles can make a difference.

Conventional wisdom for BIF shots is that the bird should be coming toward the camera or at least broadside. Once the bird passes perpendicular to the camera(i.e. offside wing is visible behind the close side wing) 90 percent of the time the shot is(or should be) a cull. Example below

1) Bird is past perpendicular but head is turned to maintain eye contact. The bird was watching another eagle in case it came after his catch and made for a dynamic shot.

2) 1/4 second, one wing beat, and a slight turn of the head back forward sends this one to the bin. Slightly clipped primaries don't help either

Even with the bird incoming slight changes in angle can make a big difference.

3) Not a bad angle but eye contact isn't so good.

4) 1/3 of a second later, much better.

Beautiful series Dan. Thanks for the narrative. Really makes you think.

 

[gnpToday]

Good explanation....helpful.

 

[NorthernFocus]

great images. #4 is stellar

Thanks, Rich.

Oh, to have such problems!

Right?

Great shots and a wonderful series, Dan!

Thanks, Lance.

Great images and thank you for the tutorial! Having just started photographing birds, this is invaluable information.

Glad you found the post useful, Brian. Enjoy the journey.

Great information and images! Thanks for sharing!

Thanks, Karen.

Beautiful series Dan. Thanks for the narrative. Really makes you think.

Thanks, Ralph. The speed and accuracy of mirrorless gives us more choices/decisions to make.

Good explanation....helpful.

Glad you found the post helpful.

 

[Viathelens]

Thanks for posting this as I was debating with myself what is the criteria for a good bird shot. I always try for the in-flight shots and most of the time they are not looking at me when they take off so it's often a side shot. Darn birds!

 

[fotogrob]

I try to cull in accordance with your criteria as well. Hopefully one or two of a series checks all boxes for pose and head position.

 

[Kumar A]

I was going through images that I shot last week and thought these might be interesting to share, particularly for less experienced shooters. Just a quick demo of how small angles can make a difference.

Conventional wisdom for BIF shots is that the bird should be coming toward the camera or at least broadside. Once the bird passes perpendicular to the camera(i.e. offside wing is visible behind the close side wing) 90 percent of the time the shot is(or should be) a cull. Example below

1) Bird is past perpendicular but head is turned to maintain eye contact. The bird was watching another eagle in case it came after his catch and made for a dynamic shot.

2) 1/4 second, one wing beat, and a slight turn of the head back forward sends this one to the bin. Slightly clipped primaries don't help either

Even with the bird incoming slight changes in angle can make a big difference.

3) Not a bad angle but eye contact isn't so good.

4) 1/3 of a second later, much better.

Great pics. I like the first image. Great lighting , lot of action and gives one a sense of the birds size.

 

[Woody Meristem]

Those are all dandy photos.

 

[NorthernFocus]

Thanks for posting this as I was debating with myself what is the criteria for a good bird shot. I always try for the in-flight shots and most of the time they are not looking at me when they take off so it's often a side shot. Darn birds!

If you flush them they'll always fly away unless there is no choice due to obstructions. If they're not being flushed you can pretty well figure out which way they'll go based on wind, trees, etc.

I try to cull in accordance with your criteria as well. Hopefully one or two of a series checks all boxes for pose and head position.

Yeah the new tracking AF helps keep them in focus but unfortunately the bird still has to cooperate with head position etc. The shutter/mirror slap is so loud in some DSLRs that sometimes they'll look to see what's making all the racket.

Great pics. I like the first image. Great lighting , lot of action and gives one a sense of the birds size.

Glad you enjoyed them, Kumar.

Those are all dandy photos.

Thanks, Woody.

 

[ElenaH]

@NorthernFocus , I looked at #3 and thought: "hmm... this one is good! (and you are so critical to yourself ;-) )" But then scrolled and saw #4 which was stellar!
Yes, it is so important how the bird looks nad poses. I learnt a bit from Jan Wegener course and videos. Earlier I didn't care at all ...
By the way why EXIF data are not published? I forgat what camera you have.. Sony A1. Just curious - did the camera AF grab the eye?
The aperture looks like f4 (600/4?) or perhaps 5.6. Maybe you are quite away and DoF is deep. I can see that the whole eagle is sharp: the eye and both wings. DoF must be 2m at least. I am just thinking if better to rely of Eye-AF or DoF for flying birds. I have Z9. For small fast flying birds the eye-AF doesn't work but for Herons it looks like it works. For eagles I am not sure... need to check.
How did you do it? How did you rely on eye-AF or DoF?

 

[NorthernFocus]

...By the way why EXIF data are not published? I forgat what camera you have.. Sony A1. Just curious - did the camera AF grab the eye?
The aperture looks like f4 (600/4?) or perhaps 5.6. Maybe you are quite away and DoF is deep. I can see that the whole eagle is sharp: the eye and both wings. DoF must be 2m at least. I am just thinking if better to rely of Eye-AF or DoF for flying birds. I have Z9. For small fast flying birds the eye-AF doesn't work but for Herons it looks like it works. For eagles I am not sure... need to check.
How did you do it? How did you rely on eye-AF or DoF?

For some reason EXIF data don't show up when photos are linked from my Zenfolio website. I'm a long time Nikon shooter and have a Z9 but for these I was trying out an A1/200-600mm. Aperture was wide open on all shots so f5.6 at 400mm and below and f6.3 beyond that.

I shot all the time with eye detection/tracking. Never felt the need to turn it off. Sometimes it seemed to grab the eagles' eyes pretty far out and sometime it lost the eye when quite close. Keep in mind when they are after fish they are flashing by at 100kph or so. All I have to go on regarding where the focus point was on any given shot is how it shows up when previewing the images in camera. I question the accuracy of how the focus point shows up because sometimes it's all over the place. For nos.3 and 4 above the focus point doesn't even show to be on the bird's head. So who knows where the actual focus was? They're sharp so I'll take it.

I've not shot eagles with the Z9 yet so don't have a direct comparison. However I have shot BIF on other species with the Z9 and my overall impression is that there is not a great deal of difference in performance. When I get some time I plan to take them both down to the local marsh and shoot them side by side at the same type birds.

 

[ssheipel]

Nice work!

 

[KirstyM]

Very useful post… and some lovely shots there! Thank you

 

[Turberticus]

Great photos and explanation on what makes an engaging BIF photo. This will be helpful to many. I keep this in mind when shooting red-tailed hawks from my porch. They will ride the thermals right at eye level and I will lay off the shutter if they're not looking in my general direction or if their back is facing me, or if they're against the sky.