Advice requested on photographing starling murmurations

[davidedric]

Hi,

I'm hoping to have a go at photographing one or more of our local starling murmurations (Cheshire, UK).

If anyone who has done this can offer advice on shooting parameters, I'd be grateful. I don't yet know what the vantage point will be, but I imagine a few hundred metres away.

Thanks, Dave

 

[N Deacon]

• You're going to be shooting in low light.
• The birds will fill a large area of sky.
• The flocks will be "deep," sometimes hundreds of metres or more.
• The spectacle is in the sheer number of birds and their movement (also, the noise - but you're out of luck with that unless you record video - which I would certainly recommend).

Suggestions? In brief,

1. Shoot wide, preferably from a tripod - your wide zoom should be perfect. This will give you some hope of conveying the sheer number of birds and the interesting formations that the flocks produce and also give good depth of field.
2. Shoot into a sunset if you can - it adds drama and colour and a sense of the time of day.
3. Experiment with faster, but also much slower shutter speeds throughout the murmuration period - the latter to convey an impression of movement as the birds swirl around the sky. Tripod and remote shutter activation is definitely indicated for this.
4. Take test exposures and do not underexpose your shots.
5. Be prepared to go back and try again - murmurations vary greatly from day to day and you may decide that you would prefer to shoot from a completely different position next time.
6. Enjoy the spectacle and don't spend your whole time peering through the viewfinder.
7. If you have family, take them along - a large starling murmuration (and they may be hundreds of thousands of birds) is one of the most spectacular wildlife events that you can see.

 

[davidedric]

Many thanks. If I have any success, I'll post something back here!

 

[Morris0]

• You're going to be shooting in low light.
• The birds will fill a large area of sky.
• The flocks will be "deep," sometimes hundreds of metres or more.
• The spectacle is in the sheer number of birds and their movement (also, the noise - but you're out of luck with that unless you record video - which I would certainly recommend).

Suggestions? In brief,

1. Shoot wide, preferably from a tripod - your wide zoom should be perfect. This will give you some hope of conveying the sheer number of birds and the interesting formations that the flocks produce and also give good depth of field.
2. Shoot into a sunset if you can - it adds drama and colour and a sense of the time of day.
3. Experiment with faster, but also much slower shutter speeds throughout the murmuration period - the latter to convey an impression of movement as the birds swirl around the sky. Tripod and remote shutter activation is definitely indicated for this.
4. Take test exposures and do not underexpose your shots.
5. Be prepared to go back and try again - murmurations vary greatly from day to day and you may decide that you would prefer to shoot from a completely different position next time.
6. Enjoy the spectacle and don't spend your whole time peering through the viewfinder.
7. If you have family, take them along - a large starling murmuration (and they may be hundreds of thousands of birds) is one of the most spectacular wildlife events that you can see.

This is all good advice. Try and include scenery in the image to give scale and/or a sense of location. In my experience a shutter speed fast enough to freeze the action is best I've not been able to convey the movement properly with blurs. Expose for the sky, the birds will probably appear black and that's fine. As you need a fast shutter speed, a tripod may be more restrictive than helpful. Making flocks look good in flight is much trickier than you would expect.

Have fun,

Morris

 

[Chris R-UK]

• You're going to be shooting in low light.
• The birds will fill a large area of sky.
• The flocks will be "deep," sometimes hundreds of metres or more.
• The spectacle is in the sheer number of birds and their movement (also, the noise - but you're out of luck with that unless you record video - which I would certainly recommend).

Suggestions? In brief,

1. Shoot wide, preferably from a tripod - your wide zoom should be perfect. This will give you some hope of conveying the sheer number of birds and the interesting formations that the flocks produce and also give good depth of field.
2. Shoot into a sunset if you can - it adds drama and colour and a sense of the time of day.
3. Experiment with faster, but also much slower shutter speeds throughout the murmuration period - the latter to convey an impression of movement as the birds swirl around the sky. Tripod and remote shutter activation is definitely indicated for this.
4. Take test exposures and do not underexpose your shots.
5. Be prepared to go back and try again - murmurations vary greatly from day to day and you may decide that you would prefer to shoot from a completely different position next time.
6. Enjoy the spectacle and don't spend your whole time peering through the viewfinder.
7. If you have family, take them along - a large starling murmuration (and they may be hundreds of thousands of birds) is one of the most spectacular wildlife events that you can see.

I give a big plus to (6). If the murmuration is really good the spectacle is likely to be way better than any photos that you get.

Also consider video instead of still photography. To me this is essentially a video target, especially if there are predators about and the birds start swirling. Also, as said above, video captures the noise as well which can be pretty dramatic if they come down to roost right in front of you.

 

[N Deacon]

Many thanks. If I have any success, I'll post something back here!

You're welcome - I will look forward to it.

 

[davidedric]

N Deacon wrote: I

• You're going to be shooting in low light.
• The birds will fill a large area of sky.
• The flocks will be "deep," sometimes hundreds of metres or more.
• The spectacle is in the sheer number of birds and their movement (also, the noise - but you're out of luck with that unless you record video - which I would certainly recommend).

Suggestions? In brief,

1. Shoot wide, preferably from a tripod - your wide zoom should be perfect. This will give you some hope of conveying the sheer number of birds and the interesting formations that the flocks produce and also give good depth of field.
2. Shoot into a sunset if you can - it adds drama and colour and a sense of the time of day.
3. Experiment with faster, but also much slower shutter speeds throughout the murmuration period - the latter to convey an impression of movement as the birds swirl around the sky. Tripod and remote shutter activation is definitely indicated for this.
4. Take test exposures and do not underexpose your shots.
5. Be prepared to go back and try again - murmurations vary greatly from day to day and you may decide that you would prefer to shoot from a completely different position next time.
6. Enjoy the spectacle and don't spend your whole time peering through the viewfinder.
7. If you have family, take them along - a large starling murmuration (and they may be hundreds of thousands of birds) is one of the most spectacular wildlife events that you can see.

I give a big plus to (6). If the murmuration is really good the spectacle is likely to be way better than any photos that you get.

Also consider video instead of still photography. To me this is essentially a video target, especially if there are predators about and the birds start swirling. Also, as said above, video captures the noise as well which can be pretty dramatic if they come down to roost right in front of you.

Thanks, Chris, yes that's advice usually dole out re wildlife photography - don't live the experience through a lens.

I was thinking of perhaps some 4K video, which would also give the option of extracting 8mp stills. I imagine I could pretty much set manual focus and forget?

Dave

 

[TheBlackGrouse]

Good advice from N Deacon.

The spectacle happens around sunset so a photo does not have to look like it's taken in broad daylight. This may give the extra room needed for your shutter speed and Depth-of-Field.

To be sure, I would take a 50-100 mm lens with me. Flocks may be further away, as wel as interesting backgrounds.

It is possible, I've shot fast flying Woodcocks, hunting Nightjars and owls an hour after sunset using f5.6 with my 100-400 II.

 

[Chris R-UK]

N Deacon wrote: I

• You're going to be shooting in low light.
• The birds will fill a large area of sky.
• The flocks will be "deep," sometimes hundreds of metres or more.
• The spectacle is in the sheer number of birds and their movement (also, the noise - but you're out of luck with that unless you record video - which I would certainly recommend).

Suggestions? In brief,

1. Shoot wide, preferably from a tripod - your wide zoom should be perfect. This will give you some hope of conveying the sheer number of birds and the interesting formations that the flocks produce and also give good depth of field.
2. Shoot into a sunset if you can - it adds drama and colour and a sense of the time of day.
3. Experiment with faster, but also much slower shutter speeds throughout the murmuration period - the latter to convey an impression of movement as the birds swirl around the sky. Tripod and remote shutter activation is definitely indicated for this.
4. Take test exposures and do not underexpose your shots.
5. Be prepared to go back and try again - murmurations vary greatly from day to day and you may decide that you would prefer to shoot from a completely different position next time.
6. Enjoy the spectacle and don't spend your whole time peering through the viewfinder.
7. If you have family, take them along - a large starling murmuration (and they may be hundreds of thousands of birds) is one of the most spectacular wildlife events that you can see.

I give a big plus to (6). If the murmuration is really good the spectacle is likely to be way better than any photos that you get.

Also consider video instead of still photography. To me this is essentially a video target, especially if there are predators about and the birds start swirling. Also, as said above, video captures the noise as well which can be pretty dramatic if they come down to roost right in front of you.

Thanks, Chris, yes that's advice usually dole out re wildlife photography - don't live the experience through a lens.

I was thinking of perhaps some 4K video, which would also give the option of extracting 8mp stills. I imagine I could pretty much set manual focus and forget?

I think MF would be fine.

Dave

 

[Stefan BW]

The general advice seems to be to shoot the big picture, murmurations as a whole, rather than capture individual birds. This is easier, shutter speeds of 1/300s will do. If you shoot against the low sun, you'll get silhouettes of birds, not much detail.

Often murmurations happen in the presence of a predator. In that case you have an interesting alternative to the wide perspective: try to focus on the raptor and follow it.

 

[Morris0]

N Deacon wrote: I

• You're going to be shooting in low light.
• The birds will fill a large area of sky.
• The flocks will be "deep," sometimes hundreds of metres or more.
• The spectacle is in the sheer number of birds and their movement (also, the noise - but you're out of luck with that unless you record video - which I would certainly recommend).

Suggestions? In brief,

1. Shoot wide, preferably from a tripod - your wide zoom should be perfect. This will give you some hope of conveying the sheer number of birds and the interesting formations that the flocks produce and also give good depth of field.
2. Shoot into a sunset if you can - it adds drama and colour and a sense of the time of day.
3. Experiment with faster, but also much slower shutter speeds throughout the murmuration period - the latter to convey an impression of movement as the birds swirl around the sky. Tripod and remote shutter activation is definitely indicated for this.
4. Take test exposures and do not underexpose your shots.
5. Be prepared to go back and try again - murmurations vary greatly from day to day and you may decide that you would prefer to shoot from a completely different position next time.
6. Enjoy the spectacle and don't spend your whole time peering through the viewfinder.
7. If you have family, take them along - a large starling murmuration (and they may be hundreds of thousands of birds) is one of the most spectacular wildlife events that you can see.

I give a big plus to (6). If the murmuration is really good the spectacle is likely to be way better than any photos that you get.

Also consider video instead of still photography. To me this is essentially a video target, especially if there are predators about and the birds start swirling. Also, as said above, video captures the noise as well which can be pretty dramatic if they come down to roost right in front of you.

Thanks, Chris, yes that's advice usually dole out re wildlife photography - don't live the experience through a lens.

I was thinking of perhaps some 4K video, which would also give the option of extracting 8mp stills. I imagine I could pretty much set manual focus and forget?

I think MF would be fine.

Dave

they will be plenty far away. Set f8 and focus with a wide pattern

Morris.