PHOTOGRAPHING FLYING birds is a matter of timing acquired with patience and practice. One may practice at the feeding places of pigeons to begin with. Slowly shift to single flying birds. Fast flying small birds are difficult to shoot while the big and slowly flying birds can be easily shot.

Good photographs of flying birds are more of a matter of getting it right at the right moment. The focus needs to be the head of the bird with a reasonable depth of field. A higher f-stop or narrower aperture is helpful.

It is always better to shoot the approaching flying bird since the subject remains in the viewfinder for longer time. Panning a bird flying across is a big pain and one may try a few quick successive clicks.

Moreover, the camera should be steady at the time of clicking despite use the higher shutter speeds to freeze the movement of the bird.