Technological Advances for Capturing Birds in Flight

Photographing birds in flight has always been considered as one of the most challenging genres in wildlife photography.

- Dr. Caesar Sengupta

That perfect shot of a beautiful bird in flight with wings spread out symmetrically, in golden sunlight and with a beautiful background -- although it's spectacular, the efforts behind making such frames are Herculean, which only a bird photographer who has tried it will know. Capturing the birds' fast movements and their sudden changes in direction mid-air, requires fast reflexes, technical expertise, thorough knowledge about the behaviour of the subject lots of patience, and to some extent, a bit of lady-luck!

Usually the larger birds like pelicans, gulls, or flamingos are rather manageable subjects, as their slower and often gliding flight patterns can be relatively easier to capture. However, when it comes to smaller birds, the challenge becomes exponentially high and there are three major factors which contribute to the difficulty of photographing smaller birds in flight:

Firstly, it is about their size. They are so small in the frame, that obtaining a quick focus on them within a fraction of a second is at times impractical while they are in flight.

Secondly, their speed. Smaller birds are incredibly agile and very fast. Some species may have speeds reaching up to 30-40 km/h. This kind of rapid and sudden movements makes it very difficult for photographers to track and maintain the focus on the bird.

Third, their unpredictable flight patterns. Unlike larger birds, smaller birds often exhibit erratic and unpredictable flight behaviours, thus posing a major challenge for photographers to anticipate and prepare for the shot.