Camera Settings
Lesson 7 from: The Art of Photographing BirdsFrans Lanting
Camera Settings
Lesson 7 from: The Art of Photographing BirdsFrans Lanting
Lesson Info
7. Camera Settings
Lessons
Introduction
04:19 2Introduction to Location Shoot
01:45 3Camera and Lenses
06:09 4DSLR vs Mirrorless
12:38 5Field Trip 1
23:22 6Getting Close To Birds
13:41 7Camera Settings
06:57 8Settings For Creativity
07:16Point of View
06:19 10Bird Portraits
14:32 11Birds in Flocks
32:40 12Birds in Flight
15:56 13Field Trip 2
11:04 14Behavior
19:43 15Birds in Landscapes
10:56 16Field Trip at Sunset
14:12 17Impressions
08:13 18Qualities of Light
01:46 19Birds as Designs
03:23 20Birds and People
11:08 21Locations
14:15 22Student Critique
1:07:35Lesson Info
Camera Settings
Let's talk a little bit more about technique. We've talked about the gear we've taken you into the field, but the worst from questions early around about camera settings. And that's what we're going to talk about now in this pre recorded video. So let's roll the video. Let's talk about camera settings. Some of them are fundamental and apply to landscape as well as to wildlife photography, and others are a bit more specific to bird photography. Let's start to it your image quality. I capture images in raw moat. I know that some photographers capture J packs along with raw images, but I think that's a waste of pixels. Amateur. Sometimes I prefer to capture J pecs because the other easier to export, but I couldn't do much more of it. Arroyo image. It's really the equivalent of a digital negative, but it requires more work after the fact, so that's a little bit of a drawback. But for me to default is raw meeting moat. My default is matrix, which means that the meter automatically can have ...
captures points throughout the viewfinder and imbalances. Theo exposure for bird photography. Some people I prefer to use spot metering especially when you use a long lens. But I prefer matrix throughout and then I'll adjust my exposure of it Exposure, compensation if need be. And that's important to think about when you're looking at white birds. Sometimes you need to under expose. Sometimes you need to over expose It depends on the quality of light. How do you set your I s so in the days of film, your I s over is governed by your film stock and you didn't have a lot of options. It was Kodachrome at 64 then the receptor chrome at 100. And sometimes you could use actor chrome at 200 but these days disguised the limit The sensors in our cameras today are unbelievable. You can crank up the I s o all the way to 100, if you need be. It's a dizzy and concept to wrap your head around. But how do you deal with the flexibility in your I S O settings? Well, most manufacturers have come up with an amazing tool called Auto I s O. For many years, I was used to setting my SLR camera and eider aperture priority, or in shutter speed priority depending on better. I wanted to pay attention to the shutter release or to the aperture for technical, for creative controls. But now I apply auto sensitivity. And that means that with the two dial's on my camera, I can simultaneously kind of change the aperture as well as the shutter speed and the I s O becomes a floater. And that is the magic of the camera Stutts we have in our hands today. When I first heard about auto, I s so I was a little bit puzzled by it. But now I think it's one of the greatest functions on my camera, and we're gonna follow up on that as we are practicing. Made it in the field. My balance. My default is auto white balance. The meters are so good that they can adjust for different kinds of light. And if I need to make any adjustment, I do that after the fact in light room, no need to fiddle bit value in the field. Let the camera do the heavy lifting that it is designed for and you focus on the creative controls where it matters. Release Moz in bird photography, you want to be prepared for action, so my default is continues. Low release. I can shoot a couple of frames a second that this camera, when I want to get ready for riel action. Then it goes into continues. Hi for portrait. When not much is changing, I switch it back to a single release because I don't want to waste too many frames that are nearly identical that give me Mawr work after the fact when I have to edit the best frame image stabilizers. I mentioned that some muralist cameras have that built into the bodies, but in my DSLR it's relegated to the lenses. So it's on all the time as a default, and I put it in sport mode because bird photography is very much like sport photography, a lot of action, and it's unpredictable. Focus. Control. I started photographing birds back in the days when auto focus didn't exist. Him and I think back it's almost incomprehensible that I got any bird in flight sharp these days. It's so easy with the amazing capabilities off cameras and lenses to track birch in flight and to get them razor sharp as they fly into your viewfinder. but it can be a little bit bewildering to look at all the different autofocus settings. Let me cut to the chase for bird photography. I prefer dynamic area A F. You might try three D tracking mid Burton flight against the blue sky. And we're going to talk Maura, about those details. Member of practicing in the field. That's a lot of information, right? And, uh, we're not even done yet, but there's an extension to this technical video. Now comfort out in a minute. I just want to emphasize the holy Trinity of Shutter speed aperture and I s O I s O is a term that goes back to the film days. As you heard me explain, in Europe, they refer to it as a s a ah animus. Based on the sensitivity of the film stock these days, it's really it's a measure of your sensor sensitivity, and the crucial thing that that we can do now is instead of having I s so as a limiting factor on what you can do, it's becoming an enabling factor. And that is what auto I s O allows you to do. I can pick any combination of shutter speed and aperture that is optimal for whatever I want to achieve, but in a range of ISO settings. And the camera makes the isso float up or down, depending on the shutter speed and the opportunity I select. And you can set the limit for your I S O depending on what you feel comfortable with it in terms of a tolerance for digital noise. So that's a really eye opener.
Ratings and Reviews
Carl Bergstrom
I was privileged to be in the studio audience for Frans Lanting's Art of Photographing Birds course, and it was amazing. The morning was a perfectly pitched lesson on the technical aspects of bird photography, intermixed with Frans's own photographs and excellent videos of him working in the field. The afternoon focused more on bird behavior, composition, and artistry, and was even more delightful. If you know Lanting's photography you already know about his ability to find unusual perspectives on the world. What really shone through in the class was his love for wildlife and especially for birds. His knowledge of natural history is as amazing as his photography, and I loved the message that to take great photographs of birds, one needs to understand them and their behaviors. I've admired Lanting as a photographer for decades. Today I learned that he is an equally talented teacher. I'll be purchasing all of his CreativeLive courses. Thank you, Carl Bergstrom
Marie Gessle
Amazing class! Mr Lanting is charming and full of knowledge about birds and of course photography. In every moment of this course you can see his great passion and love for these flying creatures. The course is full of tips for photographers who want to start capturing moments of birds life. Awesome!!!
E.L. Bl/Du
this is the best bird photog class I have ever seen. Fanz is a super excellent teacher. He is passionate about conservation, ethics and respect for the animals. He discusses gear needed and what to study before going out.about your subject, and leave it the way you found it. Kenna is the best moderator, and gets every single question answered, which is so valuable. I can say enough, now I know what settings to use on my giant new lens. Thanks so much for this class.