How to get that sharp photo of fast-moving wildlife (aka birds)
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Bird photography is one of the photo genres that I enjoy, and I want to share some tips for getting sharper photos that I employ. I also want to share a camera feature to try if your camera supports it. My earlier EOS Cameras (xTi and t5i) do not have it. If your camera does not have this feature, I hope you continue reading. This camera feature is not required for sharper bird photos, but it helps reach my goals below.
Before I get to this setting here are the exposure triangle goals I have when I photograph fast-moving wildlife. I will start at my shutter speed, then aperture, and finally ISO settings.
Wouldn't it be nice if the camera would help me with this? I am so glad you asked because this is why I am writing this post. As I mentioned above this setting may not be available on your camera or in a different location. The pictures of the menus on this post are from my Canon 5D Mark IV.
The first menu to look for is under the camera menu you can see circled in green below. The setting to look for is "Set shutter speed range" and mine is under the second menu under the camera menu.
Once you select the "Set shutter speed range" the "Lowest speed" is likely to be selected (circled in green below)
Use your adjustment wheel to adjust the "Lowest speed"
I set the speed to 1000 or 2000 depending on which lens I am using and be sure to press OK.
Once that is set I am ready for my photoshoot in AV (aperture priority).
If you have read previous blog posts or watched some of my YouTube videos you may recall that I recommend returning the camera to "automatic" to ensure your camera is not in an obscure setting while you are learning. This is the case here as well. Not so much going to automatic because going to automatic will not undo this setting. Automatic will still work but will be limited to the range selected in this feature. So, don't forget to undo this once you are done.