The ones that flew away

Sometimes I suck at bird photography.

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It has been over a year since I posted images of almost captured birdlife here...in that time one might think one’s technique would have moved up a notch or ‘to the next level’ to use the nauseating cliche preferred by influencers lacking imagination. And so, strolling along the Port Melbourne foreshore, a number of Rainbow Lorikeets in all their glory were cavorting amongst the palms. A simple matter at such close range to catch a stunning moment of lorikeet in flight. Perhaps it is yet another cruel side effect of the stresses caused by this Covid crisis that one’s reactions are slowed...or it could just be sloppy technique. We may never know.

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The ever delightful and irrepressibly boisterous Rainbow Lorikeet is sometimes so comfortable with the presence of humans that you may approach quite close to the little birds before they take flight. At the point of take-off, it is important to be ready to quickly zoom out and tilt up to capture the dynamic action. Often there is barely a fraction of a second in which to respond and re-frame your subject A very brief fraction of a second. So brief.

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One chooses a zoom lens over a prime for a few reasons, cost being an obvious one, but also the flexibility offered by a range of focal lengths. The Nikkor 200-500 provides this flexibility but it cannot magically adjust itself as a bird flies unexpectedly toward you....no, that is the job of the photographer. Not a difficult task you might think, but you would be wrong.

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One of the key differences between the full frame Sony A99 and the APS-C sensor Nikon D500 is that the D500 has an old-fashioned optical viewfinder. A common criticism of digital viewfinders is that they introduce lag, thus making tracking fast moving objects a little more challenging. In the hands of some people however, it seems even an optical viewfinder and snappy autofocus can’t help us. And the heron wasn’t even flying that fast. 

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Sometimes the action moves so quickly, it’s not until you review the photos after the moment has passed that you understand what has happened. In this case, a magpie lark was surprised by a low flying seagull. Likewise, I was surprised by the sudden movement and neglected to tilt up or zoom out or in some way take steps to address the scope of the action before me. And it’s not the most flattering angle for the lark.

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Yes the little Wrens move quickly. Certainly they do. But that is not an excuse for poor timing. One must embrace the challenges inherent in one’s chosen subject, HTFU, take a deep breath, pay attention and get the shot. I estimate this is mere milliseconds away from being the excellent shot I had in mind.

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I feel a sense of partial success in that my intentions for this shot I think are clear to the viewer. There is partial ambiguity in the ‘hedging my bets’ aspect with the framing, to be sure, as I quickly tried to decide which bird should get full attention. In retrospect, it seems clear that the flying bird was the more dynamic choice and the framing ought to reflect that. The attempt to include the second bird for contrast was ambitious, but folly.

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It is a perennial challenge in portraiture to capture the character of your subject. With a dynamic subject like birds, the character is often expressed via movement. A cunning trick used by knowledgeable photographers is to lower the shutter speed in order to introduce controlled blurring and thus the suggestion of movement. This is exactly the technique I utilized here, also panning with my subject to keep it relatively sharp. The attractive almost watercolour-like subtley of the blurred background was precisely what I was striving to capture. I was also planning to capture the leap of the White Faced Heron. I was hoping to capture more of it.

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Sometimes one must be one’s own harshest critic in order to flourish and grow as an artist. This succession of images (shot at the astonishing rate of 20 frames per second!) offers a welcome opportunity to pick apart aspects of technique and see if we can find any room for improvement. The obvious flaw in image one is that the eye is not sharp. It is crucial for a successful shot to keep the eye sharp and it’s here the image is a let-down. This is less of an issue in the subsequent two shots.  The framing is pleasingly consistent, demonstrating some skill in tracking the moving subject. Alas, the frame was insufficiently large to capture the full splendour of the heron’s wingspan and the surprisingly long neck. If one is fortunate to be using a zoom lens in these circumstances (as indeed I was) this is obviously a time to ‘zoom out’ as we say in the trade. Needless to say, lightning quick reflexes are required for such a manouvre. Apparently one’s reflexes degrade as one ages. Pity.

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Conventional wisdom suggests that for superior control in bird photography, one ought not chase after birds. Rather, one creates a setting which attracts birds and simply wait in relative comfort for them to appear. This is the reasoning behind our very attractive trio of water dishes, catching the eye of various species in the park and drawing them in for a drink. If you look closely you can just see the top edge of the water dish (the fine terra cotta line at lower left) and also the elegant feet of the Red Wattlebird making a swift exit. I believe with practice I may be able to get both the dish and the bird in the same shot.

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‘Nouveau Twitch’ turned 4 today! Really and truly! This is what can happen when you get hold of a camera and look at the world around you with wide eyed enthusiasm and a long lens. 

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There are so many ways this picture could have been awesome. Marvel at the beautiful backlighting on the wing, neatly shadowing the neck and some of the head of the Ibis.  Note the detail on the claws of the central Ibis who somewhat unexpectedly went straight up.The one in the background did excellent silhouette acting.  And yet the overall impact seems less than the sum of its parts. As the Drumpf might say, sad.

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And here we see the importance of maintaining a sufficiently fast shutter speed. I probably needed to be at 1/1600 or 1/2000th. At 1/1000th of a second, you can see that the wingtips of this Little Raven are blurred, somewhat spoiling what would otherwise be a spectacular shot. Oh, and the head thing.

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I find it useful to remind myself at times that the bird is generally indifferent to my presence and certainly has no interest in making my chosen task of making an attractive picture any easier.If it cared, it would offer some sort of pre-emptive gesture or would telegraph its projected leap more clearly, and I would be prepared. Possibly these helpful gestures exist and are visible to the trained eye. If so, I neglected them in this case.

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A male Chestnut Teal, almost entirely in frame. So close. 

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One strives for mastery, seeking perfection, communion between one’s vision and one’s dexterity with the camera. This fusion of conception and device can create magic, that decisive instant that makes it all worthwhile. It is perhaps also worth noting that Magpies can move upward surprisingly quickly. Just a little reminder for next time...

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It’s very satisfying to identify the flight path of your target and confidently pan with the movement to keep the subject sharp. It is less satisfying to realise the pylon was awkwardly positioned.