Brahminy Kite in flight

[loose cannon]

Came in real close for a good look! I like it when they do that, sometimes they will check out an intruder on their patch, it will be a high speed pass and you get one go to get a shot..

[Gaz]

Such a majestic looking bird, I've all but given up on my attempts at 'Birding'.. (not that I really started), I struggle with the patience needed and yet to understand their habits.

[Alan]

Lucky you

Looks a bit soft on my monitor, but nice pose and exposure.

[loose cannon]

Thanks you two.

Lost some sharpness in upload Alan. Only a very small crop for this and sharp as a tack on my monitor. I need to give all my forum images an extra sharpen I reckon. Quite annoying the way they present on the forum.

[Alan]

As mentioned in your 'Snack' post, reducing my page zoom in FF helps with the apparent sharpness at this end.

I use Flickr to link most of my photos, so I can't really comment on how much uploading to this Forum degrades my images.

[loose cannon]

Your images always look spot on to me Alan.

Sometimes I upload from my computer and usually slightly oversharpen to compensate. I think smugmug offers an option of either 10 or 20% increase for images that are to be downsized for web use.

I've been slack lately and have let my standards drop a bit. Need to lift my game and get it sorted.

[P Plates]

"... it will be a high speed pass and you get one go to get a shot.." So I would have no hope getting the shot. Great capture Mick.

I think I will have to revert to using Flickr more as I too find uploading here changes my images also. My Finch Hatton Gorge one looks fine on my monitor but looks oversharpened on the forum. Often they upload darker as well.

[loose cannon]

Anticipation is the key Gabby. This image was captured at a spot I visit regularly so first thing I do is have a good scan of the area to see if the resident kite is in the area. Before I leave my car and venture into the kite's domain I'll do a couple of test shots to make sure settings are exactly where they need to be.

The flyby will generally happen sooner rather than later.

As a general rule of thumb when birding I always have my camera set for a white bird in flight against a bright blue sky. If shooting other birds I will always reset to white bird in flight if the action dies down. That way if a kite or sea eagle turns up it's simply a case of aim the camera and fire the shutter.

A few times I've had sea eagles swoop past at a range of maybe 15 or 20m and still miss most of the time. They come from nowhere and at a pretty high speed so you need to keep a sharp lookout.

[P Plates]

My biggest trouble is lifting my lens towards the sky and thinking 'where the hell is it'. Have to practice zooming out to find and then zooming in again, quickly enough to capture it. It doesn't help that my Sigma turns the opposite way to all my other lenses when zooming - think they were made for Canon shooters.

[loose cannon]

Yep, that's the tricky bit.

I used to zoom out to find the bird but have discovered a better way.

Basically I put the camera to my eye as if to shoot but lower it by an inch or two so I'm sighting down the barrel of the lens. This way I can see the entire sky (almost!) and the bird is easily found. With practice it becomes a simple matter to lift the camera an inch and like magic the bird will be in the viewfinder.

It does take practice but once mastered it works a treat.

One trap that I fell into early was not keeping the camera and lens level as I raised it. Left hand would be on the lens and not move while the right hand would raise the camera to my eye. This changes the angle and the bird is lost. The camera and lens need to be raised as one. Get your head around that and it becomes second nature.

On a good day I'll nail a large bird like a kite or eagle in the viewfinder in about two seconds flat.

Practice is the key but it's worth it.

[Gaz]

A very helpful tip that makes perfect sense, thanks LC.