Birds in Flight

A flying bird is a beautiful sight. Yet, before the emergence of modern digital cameras, it was extremely difficult for photographers to capture sharply detailed photographs of birds in flight (BIFs). This is because a BIF presents many difficult technical challenges: a fast-moving subject with unpredictable trajectory; difficult lighting often with the bright sky as background; and small, far-away objects requiring the use of heavyweight, long-range telephoto lenses. Thus the early pioneers of bird photography had little luck with making detailed, sharp photographs of flying birds.

However, in the last two decades, several technical innovations have empowered photographers to successfully take BIF photographs. Foremost among these is autofocus: the ability of the camera to automatically focus the lens quickly and accurately on the subject even when it is moving quickly. In fact autofocus is such a powerful tool that my (old but high-end) digital SLR camera offers well over a hundred combinations of parameters controlling autofocus. Like any powerful tool, learning to use these requires sustained effort. But, after all the fussing and fiddling, when I get it right, the results showing a miracle of nature make the work worthwhile.

Take the egret (bok), a very common bird found in most wetlands. Its wings go through a range of motions as it takes off. Its languid, effortless flight makes it easy to keep the camera's focus on it. As it lands it spreads its wings (presumably for braking), lending it a majestic, symmetrical appearance.

Of course, not all birds fly in the same manner or speed. As you can guess, smaller birds fly the fastest. Larger birds such as raptors (kites and eagles) are usually slower. Herons and egrets are slow fliers, but some wild ducks such as pintails and gadwalls are incredibly agile. Most birds look graceful in flight, but the flight of the purple swamphen (kalem) is clumsy. It makes up for its clumsiness with its beautiful blue feathers which mushroom out like a parachute during takeoff and landing.

When photographing a BIF, everything happens so fast that I often wish I could slow down time. Even with the camera ready, it is a challenge to attain focus on the bird before the photo can be taken. If I can find the bird in a sitting or floating position, I try to anticipate when it will fly. For example, if it defecates from its perch or if its body tenses, chances are it will fly soon. This gives me a warning to prepare myself.

Flocks are often easier to photograph than individual birds because there are more things to focus on. The challenge then becomes finding the exact moment when the birds are aligned in a nice instantaneous arrangement or pattern. For example, if one bird overlaps another, that destroys the photograph for me, so I try to wait for a moment when no bird overlaps another as I look through my viewfinder.

Photographing BIFs has become such a popular photographic activity that BIF workshops in exotic locations led by renowned bird photographers routinely sell out a year or two in advance. We are lucky that here in Bangladesh we can see a profusion of BIFs in many places, particularly in the haors, Sundarban and the coastal belt.

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