Re: Coming in to land

Many thanks for all the comments, it means a lot and makes it all worthwhile. This was a lucky shot, being in the right place just at the right time, which proves a theory of mine that photography of wildlife is strongly dependant on a lot of luck, as well as having some of the right gear, and having it ready at the right time, as well as being lucky with weather and lighting.

Re: Coming in to land

What I find frustrating is seeing a great shot and not having a camera on me at the time. Having said that when you do hit the nail on the head so to speak, the sense of achievement outweighs all those" if only" moments. Of course you do get those "Machine gunner" photographers that fire off shots in the hope of getting a good one, but that is not my style as I am sure not Grahams either.

Re: Coming in to land

Im going to disagree with this, i studied birds and wildlife long before i took up photographing them, fieldcraft and patience far outweigh pure luck, though i wont disregard it.

Top equipment can help, but knowing your subject, its habits quirks and habitat can pay great dividends, most modern photographers disregard this.

Re: Coming in to land

In this instance with the swan, it was a single shot. But with some of my owl-in-flight shots, I set the camera to rapid fire and take a burst of shots at a time. This, together with keeping the bird in frame and in focus, usually means I take several hundred shots in a short space of time. 90% of them are useless for various reasons, but of those left are useable and maybe one or two are ideal.

Re: Coming in to land

My D300 with the battery grip is capable of around 8 frames a second So I could easily go down that route as well but hammering a camera like that is like driving a car flat out all the time and sooner or later something has to give.
Everyone has their own methods and it is up to them but I prefer less shots and capture the moment with good timing