One of the most challenging shots in bird photography is capturing a bird in flight. It takes really good long lens technique, a steady hand and lots of practice to capture the essence of “flight”.
It also takes the right equipment such as an image stabilized lens on a monopod or a good tripod with a gimbal head. My favorite gimbal heads are the Wimberley Head II and Wimberley Sidekick models shown here. These are the same gimbal heads used by the pros such as Arthur Morris and Moose Peterson. They’re not inexpensive but they can make all the difference in the world when shooting birds in flight.
Duck Landing
Copyright © 2008 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon 40D, EF 70-200mm f/4L USM with a 1.4X extender (monopod mounted) at 280mm, f/8 for 1/60th of a second at ISO 200 on SanDisk digital film. All post capture processing was done in Lightroom 2. Click on the image above for a larger version.
In Flight
Copyright © 2008 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon 40D, EF 300mm f/4L IS USM with a 1.4X extender (Wimberley Sidekick mounted) at 420mm, f/5.6 for 1/500th of a second at ISO 100 on SanDisk digital film. All post capture processing was done in Lightroom 2. Click on the image above for a larger version.
Wimberley Head II and Wimberley Sidekick images courtesy and copyright Wimberley, Inc.
Pretty fine bird images you’ve got here. You are right about these Wimberley heads. They are just something one has to buy if he’s got a really long lens. All the pros I’ve seen use it.
Jeff,
You’re bird photography is advancing in leaps and bounds with each post. Great shots and great work! This isn’t to make light of your other images, but your bird photography is really excelling.
John
Thanks John!
Coming from you that means a lot to me.
Jeff
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