Capturing Motion in Birds

Using a longer exposure to capture motion is very common when photographing waterfalls, although, this technique is not used as often when photographing birds. After repeatedly photographing a species, using this technique allows me to create different images from the ones I have already captured. It is also an opportunity to render a subject in a fashion that people are not accustomed to seeing. If you want to go beyond capturing a sharp photo with implied motion, this technique provides a great way to convey the bird in motion without any post-processing wizardry.

700mm, 1/40th sec, f/8, iso 3200

Digital photography has definitely made it a lot easier to try and succeed with this technique. Take a shot and take look! Then make adjustments based on the effect you are going for.

Finding the right shutter speed for a particular bird is the main challenge. Different birds move at different speeds. The best shutter speed can change based on how fast the bird is moving and how much motion you want to capture. There aren’t any precise formulas when using this technique. It does involve some amount of experimentation in each situation. Shutter speeds between 1/10th and 1/30th of a second are a good place to start. Use shutter priority mode to keep things simple, since the focus is on finding the right shutter speed. Manual mode could be used as well.

400mm, 1/20th sec, f/7.1, iso 200

With a bird in motion, panning with it is extremely critical. Try keeping the bird in the same part of the frame and pan with it for a second or two to get a sense of the speed, then click the shutter. It will help increase your success rate. I do like images where the head of the bird is relatively sharper than the wings. It is not critical for the head to be tack sharp though. To increase the possibility of capturing more sharpness, use a slightly faster shutter speed (around 1/60th sec.). Just remember, with faster shutter speeds you may capture more sharpness in the head of the bird but the blur in the wings gets reduced as well. This is where the experimentation with different shutter speeds comes in. With experience/practice you will get some images where the head is sharp even at slower shutter speeds.

300mm, 1/8th sec, f/29, iso 100

850mm, 1/30th sec, f/8, iso 250

It is important to shoot in burst mode (continuous shooting) to increase your chance of success. Since it is near impossible to take a single photo timed perfectly for the blur it is better to take a burst of photos as the birds flies across. You will delete more photos than you will keep but that is OK, as long as you get some images you are happy with. The technique is challenging and it can keep you engaged for long periods as you start to enjoy the challenge.

I often try and capture motion in birds when the background may be very complicated. The benefit of panning with the birds at slower shutter speeds is that the background blurs out considerably. The lack of definition in the background adds to the soft feel of the images captured.

300mm, 1/13th sec, f/36, iso 100

In low light situations it is easy to get the shutter speeds to capture motion. As it gets brighter you can lower your ISO and stop down the aperture to get slower shutter speeds. In the image above the aperture was stopped down to f/36 to get the shutter speed to 1/13th of a sec. In brighter light another alternative is to use a polarizer or a neutral density filter. Most polarizers will reduce the light by about 1 stop to 1 1/2 stops. I usually carry a variable ND filter that can reduce light between 2-8 stops. With longer lenses that don’t take filters on the front element, stick to changing the aperture and ISO to get the shutter speed you need. Although, at some point the light will be too bright to allow slower shutter speeds.

500mm, 1/13th sec, f/8, iso 800

I do find that softer light and pastel colors are more complimentary to this technique. It gives the images captured a more lyrical quality compared to an image that has harsh contrast. Like the two images above, the feel of the image is very different based on the light and colors. It is a matter of personal taste when it comes to picking the one you like.

400mm, 1/5th sec, f/8, iso 800

At slower shutter speeds panning with the birds gets harder but more motion can be captured. In this case (photo above), I was looking to convey the chaos when the flock of black skimmers took off. Getting one at least one recognizable black skimmer was the key to the success of this image. I would recommend trying shutter speeds slower than 1/5th sec. only after you have become comfortable with the technique had some success between 1/10th to 1/30th of sec.

700mm, 1/3th sec, f/8, iso 200

As you start to use shutter speeds of less than 1/5th of a sec. the results start to become a rather abstract. At times, the motion captured may be so much that the birds are barely recognizable (like the image above). It becomes a lot harder to predict what result you will get and I love the surprise.

It is not necessary to always pan with the birds. You can try also try keeping your camera static and letting the birds move through the picture. Compare the two examples below. In the first image the camera was panned with the birds. While the second image the camera was kept static, which allowed the background and the resting birds to render sharper. Although, there is a lot more motion in the birds in flight.

160mm, 0.6 sec, f/5.6, iso 1600

160mm, 0.6 sec, f/5.6, iso 1600

I am not a big flash user but really enjoy experimenting with freezing part of the bird while capturing some motion in the wings. Another benefit of using flash is being able to capture a catch light in the eye of the bird when the ambient light is low. The use of flash with slower shutter speeds definitely gives the image a very different look.

500mm, 1/13th sec, f/9, iso 1100

This technique may or may not be something everyone can appreciate. However, it is a great exercise in pushing yourself to photograph birds more creatively. Keep your options open and try different ways to interpret your subject.