Photographing Birds Flying Takes Practice, Patience, And Skill

^{Note: This tip comes from the printable cheat sheet ‘How to Photograph Birds Flying’ inside Photzy’s - 10 Bird Photography Cheat Sheets}

The challenge in photographing flying birds is threefold: firstly, filling the frame with the bird so that it doesn’t appear as a distant, obscure object; secondly, keeping the bird focused and free of motion blur; and finally, correctly positioning the bird within the frame as it’s moving.

The first example picture has several flaws, including the ones listed in the previous paragraph. In this case, the birds are soft and not sharply focused.

Here’s a tip to help you get your flying bird photos in focus:

• Set your camera up to release the shutter using the ‘Back Focus Button.’ This separates the shutter release function from the focusing operation, which works well for fast-moving objects like flying birds.

This example image shows how a bird or birds flying too far away lacks drama. A few shots like this in your portfolio, especially ones that depict bird behavior, such as flying in a V formation or creating a murmuration, are okay. But generally, they don’t work well for the bird photography community.

Here’s a tip to get you close to the action.

• You will want a telephoto lens for birds flying with a minimum focal length of 200mm. The longer, the better.

Lastly, let’s talk about positioning the bird within the frame. Both images in the last example have poor positioning with wasted space and unappealing composition.

To correct for this, you need to practice the following technique.

• Panning involves moving the camera at the same rate of speed as the flying bird.

Panning takes practice, but it is crucial to photographing birds flying. The good news is that you can practice on any moving object!

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!)