On my travels to the Shiawassee Nature Preserve, I would often see these small 'fluorescent' birds moving around very quickly. Seems I missed every opportunity to get a good shot as no shots were attempted. I do that a lot. Part of the journey. On Saturday's venture to For-Mar, I had a chance to miss more shots of these birds. Fortunately, I tried a different approach. Take a shot. Or two.
I found two of these little birds at the beginning of my hike. They are hard to miss, even at a distance. The coloring is pretty unique. Practicing my best slow approach, I was able to get within ten yards of the tree a pair were sitting in. I took a number of shots of the pair. Sometimes they would fly off, never going too far but always returning to the tree. The short round trip efforts never lasted more than 30 seconds. Because of these trips, I had multiple attempts at something other than a bird sitting on a branch.
And I needed multiple attempts for an inflight sequence. I had narrowed my AF down quite a bit, because I was expecting to mostly target stationary subjects, not birds in flight. For the most part that worked. And again being a seasoned rookie at this, it never dawned on me to change one setting. In the field. One command dial motion. Yet another lesson. And the journey continues.
But there was some success. If I ever go professional in this field at any level, I'd consider the name Blind Squirrel Photography for my business. Or the next blog. Because sometimes you just get lucky. True, you can increase your chances at a good shot, but for me often it is luck when I get one of these quick action shots. With aircraft, you know they are coming and at what speed. Small birds are an entirely different set of skills. And I count luck right up there.
The first shot is of a stationary subject getting ready for flight. I'm not kidding anyone here, the bird's movements are so fast none of this beyond the bird's placement was planned. I hit the shutter release at the time the bird was going to change locations. Luck.
I was lucky enough to get a shot of one in flight with some great wing motion.
This next shot is a pair of Tree Swallows in flight. Again, very lucky to get the AF on one of the birds. Also what gets to me is the bird on the right appears to be looking back at me. Wonder what is going through that brain.
It is fun to see these photos turn out. A lot more interesting in its own way.
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