Click to increase the size of the photo
Camera: Fuji Film XT-4
Shutter Speed: 1/4000th
ISO: 1600
Aperture: f/2.8
Location: 69.63796122345269, 18.004828954145513
The challenge of photographing birds has helped me become a better photographer. Their fast, unpredictable movements tested my familiarity with my camera and knowledge of the principles of photography. While I’ve read articles and watched videos on a number of topics such as exposure triangles, taking sharp photos, and exposure to the right (ETTR), it’s not until I’m back at my computer after a photo walk do I start seeing the results of my effort and can reflect on the process.
This photo is the result of a discovery I had while taking a walk around Sommarøy in the early afternoon in June. I walked over to the Camping & Marina lot to get a better view of the hill Hillesøya and the pyramid-shaped cliff of Tussøya. As I approached the end of the small peninsula, a sharp squawking began and birds began to take flight. I spun in 360 degrees to determine if any birds were around me. That is when I saw a dozen Arctic Terns, one of them had beelined for me. The Terns are small, the length of a football, with a nose profile twice as small. Flying directly towards me, it was not immediately I recognized what I saw, only as it flew closer did I realize it was a bird flying directly at me.
After the initial dive bombs ended, I found a safe distance (after the terns stopped squawking at me), and then just sat down and waited for 20 or 30 minutes. The terns returned to flying to and from their ground nests. As I blended into their environment, I watched as these two terns took turns setting an overwatch, to guard against any future intrusions I may take into their territory. The metal poles being the highest point near their nests lifted the birds above the busy undergrowth and set them against the dramatic mountains. I knew I wanted to capture this photo.
The photo appears like dioramas you’d find in museums, two-dimensional and staged. The background appears almost fake, printed on a wall. This is because I was in aperture priority mode with a 140mm lens and shooting at 1/4000 second and f/2.8. A higher shutter speed was needed for these fast-flying birds.
Next time I shoot though, I’ll opt for a higher shutter speed and remove the circular polarizer, letting an extra stop of light hit the camera’s sensor. I also felt the need to conserve memory and chose not to shoot in burst mode, yet realized I used less than a third of my SD memory on a two-week trip.
