Shooting Action
Text and photographs © Nigel Dennis
 Until a few years ago action
photography of birds was a very difficult business indeed. Most of the pictures of birds
in flight were taken with high speed flash triggered by an infra red beam device. Also,
because it was necessary to know exactly where the subject would be flying to trip the
beam, this pretty much restricted the use of all this paraphernalia to birds approaching a
nest site.
To photograph, for example, a soaring eagle in natural light by manually trying to follow
focus was extremely difficult. The degree of co-ordination required to pan smoothly and
still keep the bird in focus was very demanding. In those days if I got two sharp pictures
on a roll, I thought I was doing well. Apart from flight photography, shooting just about
any action was more a miss than hit affair. Even trying to follow focus with a swimming
duck would result in more 'throw outs' than 'keepers' when the film was processed.
Fortunately technology has come to our rescue and almost all 35mm camera systems made
today incorporate autofocus. From rather shaky beginnings just over 10 years ago when the
manufacturers' earliest attempts would whirr and wander horribly, today's state of the art
equipment means that a soaring eagle is no longer such a problem. When it comes to
photographing that swimming duck, you can reckon on getting just about every picture
sharp!
The best of today's autofocus equipment features a motor inside the lens (or actually
around the lens barrel) that can move the focussing elements incredibly quickly. This is
coupled with a predictive program in the camera's mini computer that assesses the velocity
of the subject and 'tells' the lens to track accordingly. Today's autofocus equipment
tracks so fast that the limitation lies mainly with the photographer's ability to keep the
autofocus sensing area in the viewfinder on a fast moving subject. Added to this, the very
limited depth of field of a telephoto lens means that it is generally necessary to keep
the autofocus sensing area on the head of the bird and this becomes quite a severe test of
the photographer's co-ordination
Tracking with such accuracy is almost impossible when hand holding a lens. Using a tripod
helps a lot but most tripods sold for stills photography incorporate a pan/tilt or a ball
and socket head that seldom pans smoothly enough to use with autofocus. Just a hint of
jerkiness and it is very difficult to keep autofocus sensing area on the subject as it
flies past. I have found that fluid action heads sold for video and cine work are much
better. It is not necessary to go to the expense of purchasing a true fluid head designed
for professional cine filming. The fluid action heads made for the amateur video market
are fine. The model I use is the Manfrotto 136 and costs far less than a good quality ball
head.
Flight photography is also easier with lenses of 300mm or longer. The further away the
subject, the slower you will need to pan to track accurately. Anyone who has been on an
Okavango sunset cruise will know about this. Feeding the habituated Okavango fish eagles
is the highlight for tourists and the bait, usually a tiger fish fillet skewered on a
piece of bamboo stalk to make it float, is thrown just a few meters from the boat This is
so close that you need to use a 50mm standard lens to frame the eagle. At such close range
it is necessary to pan so fast to follow the eagle that the success rate is quite abysmal.
I have found that the only way to get good fishing sequences of fish eagle is to hurl the
bait about 30m from the boat and to shoot with a 300mm lens. Although the eagle is moving
at the same speed, being much further away a slower pan is required to follow it and
consequently there is more chance of success.
Although autofocus has made it much easier to follow focus with a fast moving subject, to
freeze the action a fast shutter speed is also required. For a soaring eagle, about
1/250th second is OK. If the eagle is coming in to land with rapid wing beats, you will
need to use 1/1000th second or less. A wader foraging will also require a shutter speed of
1/1000th second or less. Because of the high shutter speeds, action photography is
generally restricted to bright, sunny conditions if you wish to use a high definition film
of 100ASA or less.
Autofocus has undoubtedly opened up a whole new field of bird photography with potential
to get exciting pictures of feeding, bathing, courtship and flight. For flight photography
however, it works well only with the larger birds. I have used autofocus successfully with
flight pictures of birds down to about dove size. Very small birds tend to fly too fast
and too erratically to track with autofocus.
Text and photographs © Nigel Dennis
 Nigel
Dennis is the author of several spectacular nature photography books on
African wildlife. You can purchase these titles available from Amazon com by clicking on
the images or links below. To see some of Nigel's stunning images visit the Nigel Dennis Wildlife Photography web site.
 |
The
Kalahari – Survival in a Thirstland Wilderness
Published 1997. Struik New Holland Publishers. ISBN 1 86872 019 5. Hardcover 29cms x
26cms. 168 pages. The Kalahari Gemsbok Park is one of our favourite photographic
destinations. Wendy and I spent fourteen months there over a two year period when
collecting pictures for this book. My aim was to portray the diversity of life in the
Kalahari throughout the seasons. Includes coverage of rare and seldom seen species, such
as the prehistoric looking pangolin. Excellent well researched text by Michael Knight and
Peter Joyce. |
 |
National
Parks and Other Wild Places of Southern Africa
Published September 1999. Struik New Holland Publishers. ISBN 1 86872 212 0. Hardcover
30cm x 24cm. 176. Co – photographed with Roger de la Harpe. Our aim was to produce
not only a strong visual portfolio, but also a book packed with useful information for the
traveller. The reader friendly narrative, by Brian Johnston Barker, highlights the
subcontinent's finest ecotourism destinations. Maps and fact-filled boxes compliment the
text. |
 |
The
Ultimate Wildlife of Southern Africa
Published September 1998. Sunbird Publishing (Cape Town). ISBN 0 62022 614 5. Hardcover
37cms x 29cms. 160 pages. Text by Brian Johnson Barker. This large format coffee table
book showcases a selection of my favourite pictures taken over the last decade. The
selection was made from tens of thousands of images in my photo library. I paired this
down to about 800, and the publisher and designer then had a tough job deciding what to
include in the book! Shows many rare and seldom photographed species, as well as the more
familiar big game. |
 |
The
Kruger National Park – Wonders of an African Eden
Published 1995. Struik New Holland. ISBN 1 85368 593 3. Hardcover 30cms x 27cms. 176
pages. Also the result of a two year photographic project, this book has proved very
popular and is soon due to go into a fifth reprint. The photographs show the animals,
birds, reptiles, flora, trees and varied habitats of South Africa premier National Park.
Comprehensive text by Bob Scholes gives a wonderful insight into the ecology of the
region. Don't visit the Kruger Park without a copy of this book! |
|
