shooting a pheasant/quail hunt?

[mikeSF]

This Friday I'll be doing just that. Have never done it before. I've bird hunted for the last 50 years so have an idea of what to expect. My plan is to walk along with the hunters on their flank. I'll be keeping a close eye on the dogs. When they get excited i'll be ready to capture the moment, I hope! Am thinking of shooting in live mode with my Nikon D7200. I've never used live view. I've been playing with it in the back yard. My thoughts are I'll be able to keep an eye on the entire axis of movement of the hunters. When a bird flushes I'll attempt to get the bird and possibly the dog and or hunter into the scene. By using the view finder I might not be able to get the bird into the frame soon enough for a shot. Kind of like trying to shoot the bird with a scoped rifle vs a shotgun. I'm taking a 11 - 16mm, 18 - 140mm and a 70-200mm with a 2X tele. How about it? Have any of you tried shooting hunts like this? Any recommendations?
thanks!

[Curt Wilke]

I'll throw some thoughts out. To freeze the action of the bird you will need a high shutter speed. Somewhere between 1/2000 and 1/4000 sec. To have the entire scene in focus, bird, hunter and dog, you will need to use a narrow f stop, f11-f16. To have both a high shutter speed and a small aperture you will need to use a very high ISO setting to complete the exposure triangle. And all of this will be done with the camera handheld. I think it will be difficult to accomplish the task with good results. I might suggest that you pick a subject to be in focus and let the other elements in the frame, not in focus, support the "story". Let's say you pick the bird as your subject. Place the camera's AF point or group on the bird, use a high shutter speed, f stop at a more wide open setting and an ISO setting to complete the exposure triangle. Take the photo from the hunters perspective with gun barrel used as a leading line to the bird. If the hunter and his dog are the main subject set the AF point or group on the hunter Use a low shutter speed around 1/250th +/- . Stop down to smaller f stop for a greater DOF to be sure the hunter, gun and maybe the dog are all in focus and set the ISO to complete the exposure triangle. The bird will be out of focus and show motion blur in the shot but it helps tell the story. Oh...I am not a fan of using the live mode handheld. I prefer to use the view finder as it helps eliminate camera shake/motion blur. Curt

[mikeSF]

Thanks for the info. I took notes on your post for the next time. Here are a few pics of the hunt. Had a great time. I think it's easier to hit the pheasants with a shotgun than with a 35mm. I did decide not to use live view.

flush by mikesgm, on Flickr

flushhen1 by mikesgm, on Flickr

flushhen by mikesgm, on Flickr

[Curt Wilke]

I shoot a lot of Birds in Flight photos. It takes practice to find the bird quickly, get the AF point on the bird and get the shot. Also, the longer the lens the narrower the field of view which adds to the fun!
Here's a shot from yesterday of a Shoveler.
Attachment 436831

[mikeSF]

What AF point do you like to use when shooting birds in flight?

[Curt Wilke]

What AF point do you like to use when shooting birds in flight?

I shoot with a Canon 5Dmk4 and a R5 and use center point with 4 surrounding points or center point with 8 surrounding points on the 5Dmk4. When using the Canon R5 I have setup rear button focus on two of the rear buttons so I can switch between one center point with 4 or 8 surrounding points and the new animal eye AF modes. Both the 5Dmk4 and the R5 have AF cases you can select for how "sticky" you want the AF point or zone to hold onto a subject. If you have this AF feature I use "case 2". Curt

[mikeSF]

you have been a great help for the next time out shooting bird hunts.
thanks!