Long Exposure Bird Photography
One of my favourite watering holes on the pacific flyway is Whitewater Draw in Arizona.
Here Sandhill Cranes arrive by the tens of thousands every winter. It’s a phenomenon I’ve witnessed a few times before (you can see the photos from those trips here.)
On my last visit I made over a thousand photos on the first day and, after reviewing them, I realized they were all the same as what I had made before.
What can I do here that is different?
I wondered
What is important? What makes this place unique?
I decided that I wanted to convey the motion of the birds. Really, the commotion of the birds! Being there is to witness a veritable cacophony of sound and utter chaos of motion. So I started experimenting with long exposures.
My first goal was to make photos where the bird’s head was sharp but the wings had motion blur. I found the most success at this technique when my shutter speed was around 1/125th second. Of course, it all depends on how fast the birds are flying.
For the next photo, which I also made at 1/125th second, all the birds standing still on the ground are sharp and all the birds taking flight have motion blur. It’s one of my favourites!
Then I started playing with even slower shutter speeds around 1/50th second. At first I thought these photos were mistakes because nothing was sharp. But still — I liked them.
Sometimes I find that when I make a mistake, if I just make the mistake even bigger it turns into something really good! Soon I was making abstract images that I really love.
I hope you enjoy them too!
This was all fine for the birds that are flying, but what about the birds that are standing? There is still a lot of motion going on because all the birds leave in the morning and they all come back in the evening. So I decided to try some even longer exposures without camera movement to show the change in the whole group of birds in the water.
This resulted in some “ghost birds”.
I hope you enjoyed my experimentation with long exposure bird photography.
The next time you think you’ve made a mistake, try making it bigger!
You might be on to something.
One extra thing …
My last experiment in conveying all the commotion was a time lapse. I made this with the intention of creating an instagram story, so that’s why it is in the portrait format. The sound is recorded at normal speed.
Nicely done! The 10 second exposure has me in a bit of a conundrum though. How did you get so many birds to stand perfectly still for that long?
I know, it’s weird eh? I think there were just so many birds that those were the ones who had nowhere to go for 10 seconds! Yet there are a couple in the front that don’t seem to have any “ghost birds” around them. It was late in the day and they were all gathering in the water for the night, so they were starting to settle down.
Nice pictures! I experimented last year with camera in motion blur of flowers. I got some nice abstract images. My favorite was of aspen trees with fall colors blowing in the wind.
In camera motion is so much fun. I love doing the vertical panning on trees. These bird photos were a mix of in camera motion, because I was panning, and just using a slow shutter with flying birds. You really have to experiment with how fast you move the camera – and then that changes with how fast the birds are flying.
Terrific, Anne, thanks! Such a neat idea. Right now I’m thinking about how I might make wind-blown subjects look like intentional art. We’ve had an unbelievably windy fall/winter.
Doing long exposures of moving flowers is fun. Not sure if you have any flowers this time of year though! But you could try it with anything that is blowing in the wind. You never know what you are going to get so it’s really fun to play around with. Then you could try moving your camera as well and see what happens then.
Thanks, Anne.
Fifty miles from where I live in India is Chilka lake, a bird lover’s paradise. Every time I visit I get same type of pictures. This time it will be different. Your post is an eye opener.
Let us have more of these con future.
Shashi.
Hi Shashi, That is wonderful! I’m so happy to share these ideas and I hope you come back with some unique images 🙂 It can be hard to come up with new ideas but well worth the challenge. Thank you very much for the kind feedback.
Really nice summary of the process for longer exposure times for the Sandhill Cranes! Love how the 10-second exposure can still produce some that are very still. Glad that they held a pose for you! What time of year is your favorite for this location?
Thanks Harvey! I have been a few times, but each time it was February. It seems to be the perfect time of year, but I have heard that there can also be lots of birds in December and January too.
Really great tutorial Anne. Gives the desire to try these shutter speeds myself for similar techniques.
Brian
Thanks Brian! It is so much fun, I hope you give it a shot and come back with some unique images. Thanks for your visit and comments 🙂
I did like some of these images and they do have their place in the realm of thing’s.
It seems that everyone does their best to capture tack sharp images of birds and wildlife, and when my images are soft, I would probably delete them.
There was only one image that I took that was very soft and it was an image of a woman, period dressed, probably Peruvian by the style of close,
She was looking at two framed images of master painters at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco.
The lighting could have been better and my ISO wasn’t as high as it should have been, but it was a very quick decision. I love how it turned out because it looked like a painting of a woman looking at paintings in a museum.
If you would like to see it, please let me know.
Hi Kenneth, I do like my tack sharp images of birds too, and I agree that when they are just a little soft I consider them rejects. But … that’s the difference between an image coming out slightly soft when you are trying to get a tack sharp image and purposefully making a very blurred abstract image. Although happy accidents do happen as you found out with your woman at the museum. I always enjoy seeing people’s photos, so yes please share! You can email it to me or send me a link. Thanks for your comments.
If you don’t experiment you can fall into a rut. Your body gets used to the repetitions forming habits. Nice work.
Rockhampton, Australia
So true! I think everyone, including myself, gets in the habit of using certain techniques on particular subjects and pretty soon all of our images are the same. You really have to push yourself to try new things and risk making bad images in the hopes of finding something great.
Very beautiful ,nice technique.
Much appreciated, thanks!
Love these, Anne! Especially the longer ones. Well done, and a refreshing take on bird photography which, though lovely, can sometimes feel a bit stale.
Thank you so much Laurie. It’s funny with birds when you have limited opportunities you don’t want to take too many risks. But when you have an opportunity like this one when you know you’re not going to run out of birds to work with you can try new things. Thanks for your comments, always appreciated 🙂
Very nice. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you very much Kevin!
Hello Anne
Experiences outside the mainstream often result in either rejection or ecstatic acceptance.
I am surprised and pleased that you dared to do something different.
I tell you to continue, congratulations.
Stay well and safe
Eduardo Pereira Goody
(in Portugal)
Hi Eduardo! You are so right! Trying new things often leads to disaster, but with digital it’s no big deal anymore. The potential rewards of making something unique are well worth the risk. Thank you very much for your visit and comments!
The 1/50th of a second shots, especially the first four images, convey the RHYTHM of flight in a way a sharp-focus image would not. Motion shots have an artistic merit, moving beyond documentation (beautiful as that can be). The can also be very funny – try photographing a pet that is taking a good shake and you’ll see what I mean.
I also like to occasionally take photos deliberately out of focus if the colors and shapes are interesting – especially gardens, flowers, and lights at the holidays. Even if the shot seems to be a “throwaway,” it can still be useful as a background image.
As a creative idea, it might be interesting to explore double exposures where one image is sharp, and a second one of the same subject is allowed to blur due to motion or soft focus. I don’t think it would work with things that are moving through space (unless you used two cameras side-by-side), but it would work well with subjects that are anchored, such as flags, trees, and the like.
Hi Charla, ah, that’s exactly right, it’s the rhythm of the flight! Thanks so much for that insight. Yes, deliberately out of focus shots can be wonderful when you have other “rules” of composition are in place like shapes, lines, and colour contrast.
I really like your idea of double exposure. I think I have so many shots of these sandhill cranes I might be able to combine some sharp images from the first day with blurred images from the second day. I’m not sure I can pull that off or not, but it’s a great idea. I may not be able to do it after the fact, but I can see how purposefully getting those two types of shots on the same day in the same lighting conditions would work out. Thanks for sharing your ideas!
Anne – This is so amazing, so enjoyed this presentation! I am still in the learning mode with Long Exposure. You have just given me more knowledge and insight.
Thank You so much for sharing your knowledge.
You are most welcome Kathy! I’m glad you found the post helpful and I hope you have some ideas to experiment with. Thanks for your lovely feedback 🙂
These are wonderful, Anne! I’ve tried this a few times, but only half-heartedly and with uninspired results. You’re inspiring me to find some birds and give it a more honest try!
That’s wonderful Jackson, I’m so happy I inspired you to try again. You do have to really experiment to get just the right panning speed and shutter speed. I have lots of failed shots before I started making ones I liked. Thanks for your comments 🙂
Love it. Got me thinking. Thank you.
You are welcome Suzanne, I’m glad you enjoyed the post.
Thank you for sharing these stunning photos, Anne. Tack-sharp shots are great, but these capture birds as they most often are … in motion. A treat for the eyes! Loved the time lapse too.
Thank you so much Suzy, I appreciate that 🙂
Thank you for the inspiration! I need to re-visit some of my old blurred bird photos to see whether I have any “usable” ones in there but more importantly, I can’t wait to put your suggestions into practice! Always enjoy your emails.
Best Regards
Thank you very much Vasantha! I hope you have fun with the technique. It takes a lot of trial and error, but it is fun to do. Thanks for your visit and comments.
Great idea , well implemented with astounding results.