Achieve Perfect Shots Of Birds In Motion With Tv (Shutter Priority) Mode

How to create photos using the shutter priority shooting mode.

Author

Bill Harris
February 06, 2025

Note: This tip comes from the Canon Bird Branch Project - How To Photograph Wild Birds

Birds move quickly. I want to take photos that completely freeze their flapping wings and the splash of the water around them.

Photograph by Unsplash/Getty Images - The shutter speed was set to 1/8000 of a second in Tv mode to capture a Common Kingfisher flying out of the water. This setting froze the moment the bird took off, along with the splash of the water.

Let's try to use the Tv shooting mode! (Also known as S mode on some cameras.)

What kind of photos can you take using the Tv mode?

The Tv (shutter priority AE) mode lets the photographer manually select the shutter speed. Shutter Priority is a sensible choice when the photographer is more concerned with the exact setting of the shutter speed over the amount of depth of field provided by the aperture.

At fast shutter speeds, the camera can freeze the movement of splashing water or flapping wings.

Slower shutter speeds let you capture the flowing arc of movement, especially when combined with the panning technique.

Photograph by Birger Strahl – Nikon D4S, f/2.8, 1/40th, ISO 100, 140mm lens – Panning involves swinging the camera in unison with the moving object while using a slow shutter speed. When properly executed, parts of your bird subject should be sharply focused while other parts of the image are blurry.

One of the challenges of panning is capturing your subject in a pleasing location within the frame.

Even minor shutter speed adjustments can dramatically change a photo's feeling.

Note: The LCD monitor indicates the shutter speed as a fraction, but the viewfinder only displays the denominator. Therefore, 8000 means 1/8000 of a second, 0.5" means half a second, and 15" means 15 seconds.

Want more? If you want to learn more about bird photography, and capture beautiful shots of your own, we recommend downloading and printing out Photzy’s 10 Bird Photography Cheat Sheets (Special bonus available now!)