Auto ISO: Your Secret to Perfect Bird Shots

^{Note: This tip comes from Photographylife’s article - 21 Tips for Bird Photography}

Tip #1 - Use Auto ISO

With birds, we are always in a rush. More often than not, we end up missing optimal settings in the camera. There is seldom enough time to check everything. That is one reason most wildlife photographers use Auto ISO in Av (aperture priority) or M (manual) mode.

Manual mode combined with Auto ISO is helpful because you can set your aperture (usually wide open) and shutter speed (whatever guarantees you a sharp shot). At the same time, the camera automatically picks the ISO to compensate. The main problem occurs in bright conditions: Your ISO could go so low that it hits the base value and needs to go lower, but it can’t. And your photos will easily be overexposed if you aren’t paying attention or you fire a burst of shots across changing light conditions.

For that reason, Aperture Priority mode with Auto ISO is also helpful. You set the maximum ISO value your camera will use, then manually set the “ISO Sensitivity” value that the camera will not go below. You might think you are locked out of changing the camera’s shutter speed in this mode, but that’s not true: You can indirectly change the shutter speed very quickly by adjusting your ISO sensitivity.

For example, raising ISO sensitivity from base ISO up to ISO 800 or 1600 causes the camera to use a faster shutter speed rather than shooting at a lower ISO. (Even if you keep your ISO sensitivity at the base value, this still prevents overexposure simply by using a faster shutter speed if your ISO dips to the base value.)

Tip #2 - Every camera has a maximum acceptable ISO (before digital noise overwhelms the image quality). For example, with my D7000, I seldom push the ISO beyond 1000. 

With my D750, I push it to 3200.

The basic idea is to determine the maximum possible ISO to an acceptable level and then set it to Auto ISO parameters.

The “minimum shutter speed” value is the one you need to be careful with since the camera will stay at that value most of the time.

Tip #3 - If your minimum shutter speed is set to 1/250 of a second, the only way the camera will set a faster shutter speed is if it is otherwise overexposing your photo at your chosen ISO sensitivity.) To be on the safe side, pick something quick. 1/250 is about the slowest I will do, and I usually pick 1/500 or even faster, depending on the subject.

Tip #4 - If your camera has U1 and U2 modes or similar custom settings, you can save presets for low light (Manual mode with Auto ISO) and daylight (Aperture Priority mode with Auto ISO) to save time.

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!)