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Neutron2K — Peregrine Falcon in Flight
Published: 2008-09-16 16:36:13 +0000 UTC; Views: 5347; Favourites: 227; Downloads: 0
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Finally - a Pin sharp shot of a peregrine falcon in flight!Taken at the Hawk Conservancy Trust.
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Comments: 57
Its not just down to the camera. You need to follow the subject even when the shutter closes, i.e. don't stop panning with the subject when you press the shutter but keep following. Also make sure you use Continuous shutter more. You need a fast shutter speed to 'freeze' action but it comes at the cost of aperture and ISO. Step up the ISO, and widen the aperture (f5.6 or lower) to allow faster shutter speeds and sufficient light.
Lenses are the most important factor with any setup. You need fast glass to allow wider apertures of f4/f2.8
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Wow thanks! Is there a way to save messages because this will always come in handy! I've tried following the target though but the whole picture is blurry :/ so I thought that was the wrong thing to do.
Also, if I turn my camera to the mode where you can change shutter speed and aperture etc it always comes out black. I don't know why :/
My mum can't figure it out either haha.
But thanks so much for that!
By the way what is your avatar? My brain says toucan
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Ok this is hard for me to explain here but here goes...
You need to read up and understand exposure, and how to meter light levels.
Exposure is the amount of light reaching your sensor, (and is what you monitor via your cameras metering system), and is dictated by a combination of your shutter speed, aperture and ISO speed.
Slow shutter speeds allow for more light to reach the film/sensor when taking a photo but results in the photo taking longer. Longer shutter speeds will introduce blur to the scene if the camera is moved during the exposure, (this is why you track a subject when it is moving - to keep the subject central in the frame whilst the other areas will cause motion blur).
A fast shutter speed is used to 'freeze' action and take a very quick photo. However it comes at the cost of light, (less light reaches the sensor thus you get a dark image).
To compensate you need to open your aperture more to something like f4, f5.6m and if that is not enough you need to increase your ISO, (makes the sensor more sensitive to light but comes at the price of introduce noise into the image).
Theres a lot to understand unfortunately. Have a read up online about exposure and metering available light.
The best thing I can recommend is that you use SHUTTER PRIORITY MODE on your camera so that you can set a fast shutter speed, and the camera will automatically work out the best aperture to use to ensure you get a correct exposed photo. Your apperture will be limited by your lens however.
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Ok 
I think it was the aperture it goes up to 2000. My mum was amazed and said that's a lot lol. Thanks again
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Shutter Priority mode will be an 'S' on your camera or (or sports mode if you have a simplified body).
No, 2000 that will be your shutter speed, 1/2000th of a second which is fast but not as fast as it could go depending on your camera. To use 1/2000s will require a very wide aperture and high ISO depending on how much light you have available.
Aperture will be restricted by your lenses and each lens will have its widest aperture printed on it in an f-number. e.g. f2.8, f4, f5.6.
Aperture is the size of the whole in the lens that lets light through to the camera. The smaller the hole, the bigger the f number and the less light you have to work with. Small apertures are used to have more of the subject and background details in sharp focus.
Wide aperture, (small f numbers) allow a LOT more light through to the camera thus allowing for faster shutter times. The trade off is that a smaller portion of your subject will be in focus. (e.g. if you focus on someones face and they have a lot of space behind and trees, the trees in the background will be unidentifiable due to blur called bokeh).
Heres an example of >> bokeh [link] <<
The trees in the background are blurred beacuse this shot was taken at f5.6 and had a central focus point. A fast shutter speed was used to 'freeze' the action.
Heres a shot taken at f4 (f4 and wider is considered professional level glass and will run you a LOT of money). >> [link] <<
As you can see, nothing in the background is identifiable due to the focus point and a wide open aperture.
As a rule of thumb, when you are photogaphing moving subjects you want as much light as possible so you can have a fast shutter speed, so you use somthing like f5.6 with a shutter speed of say 1/1000s depending on how much light is availble (this is where you meter your subject using the cameras in built metering system).
For landscape work you want as much of the scene as possible in focus so you use a smaller aperture, commonly f11 or f16. This will mean you need to use longer shutter times, (i.e. long exposure) in order to allow enough light to pass through the lens to the camera for a correctly exposed shot. For longer shutter speeds, a sturdy tripod is essential as any movement during the exposure will cause blur.
Here an example of an extremely long exposure i did a few years ago.>> [link] << This photo took 45 minutes to take. I used a 10 stop Neutral Density Filter (don't worry about what that is) and a remote shutter to take the picture and then sat and listened to the see for 45 minutes whilst the photo was being taken.
Hope this all helps.
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Aaaaaaaahhhhh now I know how it's done! I always wondered about the pictures with really still water haha. Yes, that was extremely helpful thank you
*skips off into the sunset to amaze the world with newfound ability of taking pictures. And also to buy a tripod 
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Make sure you buy a decent tripod that can take the breeze and weight of your camera gear. At some point you'll also want to invest in a filter system that allows you to use neutral density grad filters, (filters that are clear on one end and graduate down to a dark grey at the other - used for balancing an exposure across the frame when taking landscape photos as the sky is always a good 3-5 stops brighter than the land). Avoids having to resort to too much post processing and blending of exposures.
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Ah yes filters, I could ask my mum about those because she seems to know something of them. Don't most people just alter them and do the same thing with photoshop nowadays?
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Unfortunately they do but to me that's not photography. I will occasionally blend two exposures from bracketed shots, but those two bracketed shots will be using filters to try and get a balanced exposure in camera as much as possible.
There's too much digital manipulation going on these days. Like HDR. I despise HDR. Too many people try to use it to salvage a crap photo rather than scout out decent composition and put in the effort to make return trips until the light is right.
The most I do to my works is the occasional 2/3 bracketed shots exposure blending if filters aren't enough to balance to exposure across the frame, slight colour correction and a touch of sharpening. If I have to spend more than 20 minutes tops on a landscape photo it goes in the bin.
That said, I haven't been out with my camera for nearly 2 years now anyway.
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Before last year I didn't even know what photoshop was so photography was just that to me. Get a camera, click a button, ta da. Now I know there's a lot more to it but anyways. People try to convince me that the manipulation is part of the photography (teachers included lol) and I kinda went with it till just now when I read that and thought about it haha!
I don't know how to change things anyway
Aw, you should take it up again! You obviously have a passion for it so don't let it go
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Basically some digital manipulation is acceptable (to me at any rate), as long as it can be recreated in a dark room on traditional film. Somethings are just unavoidable, like curve adjustments, white balance tweaks and occasional exposure blending.
Everyone's got there own idea and standards as what counts as photography and digital manipulation
I prefer to capture incredible light and if that means wasting 80 trips over the space of a year for one shot of something in amazing conditions its worth the time and money. I don't resort to salvaging bad shots if a trip hasn't panned out
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Yes I suppose they do haha
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cool. The bird looks pretty expressive to me, esspecially with that "Are you sure about this?" look
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Nice capture, it's so sharp and I'm sure it was hard to keep up with him
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I just want to fave your whole gallery now that I've seen it, but in order to spare your message box the pain I'll just fave this one of my favorite bird ever. Nice job! Where do you work? Your stuff is National Geographic worthy in my opinion.
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thanks
I'm a professional web applications developer by trade. Photography is just a hobby at the moment but I do sale prints from my website on occasion.
I have a shot in the current national geographic international photography contest at the moment but they rejected 5 of my 6 shots! I couldn't believe it!
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They are pretty hard core. That's why I want a career working for a magazine called Sunset instead (NG was my dreamjob, but now I'm not so sure). Sunset covers the Northwest section of the U.S. and does travel and gardening.
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do you work for ng or somthing?
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No, I'm still in college. I plan on becoming a professional photographer though. National Geographic is what inspired me.
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national geo has hundreds, if not thousands of photographers
What sort of pro photography? In house photographer for a magazine? commissioned etc?
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I'm hoping to work for Sunset Magazine when I graduate, but I'll build up a portfolio and apply to a few places. In the meantime, I'm working on an English major so I can write articles to accompany my work when neccessary.
I've found my best work is close-up plant photography which is why Sunset is so great. It covers travel to the local areas and gardening/homes.
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cool
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I'm not completely sure. I'm going to work with my advisor and see if I can get some information on the company.
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best thing to do is just contact them
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Good to know. I'll see if I can contact them and find out what the qualifications are and such. Thanks a lot.
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ahhh crazy, thats so good
well done!
please tell me your photography secrets! ;]
also, read and respond to my journal if you have time and would be so kind.
thanks!
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glad you like the shot. please feel free to browse my other works
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i shall do,
on my journal i have a bit about me being confused about camera functions ^^ youre photos are amazing, im sure you have a small bit of advice
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thanks for the support 
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This is incredible. And I can't think of anything else to say.
I love peregrines.
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thanks
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Awesome shot mate. I really like the compostion. It gives you plenty of room to "let the bird fly" while not leaving any dead space.
To me the bird actually looks sad. Kinda' like a worried frowning look. Like a "What the hell? Is that man going to shoot me?"
And yes, that pun was intended.
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ooh! when i see amazing shots like this, it makes me realize how weak my photography skills are! i would kill to get a shot that clear
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takes a lot of practice. This particular bird is damn near impossible to catch in flight - well in a stoop anyway. I've always failed on previous trips to get anything but a blur!
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That's incredible... very nice shot! Went there myself yesterday, but I didn't even try with the peregrin since I'd just get a blur!
Graeme
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you nearby to the HCT then? I might be there again tomorrow as I have to go shoot winchester cathedral at sunrise for a possible cover image for a mag, and might end up heading back there for a few hours shooting. Don't know yet though.
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Well... at the moment I rent in Highcliffe, but right now I'm in Egham (Surrey) as that's where I'm having physio. I work at Southampton Airport so, in terms of miles, the Hawk Conservancy is in the middle. My landlady has put her house on the market so I'm looking for rentals in Andover. I want to volunteer at the HCT on days off so it would be handy to be closer, since I'm going to have to move anyway.
I'm stuffed with a 6am start tomorrow, so no chance of me taking photo's anywhere. Tomorrow should be alright, although the sun might be a rare sight.
Graeme
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hehe, he has a "declared as an idiot-look" on his face^^ amazing shot!
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