Continuing our new series of concise guides to better safari photography we look at capturing dynamic flight shots of large raptors.

Africa’s abundance and variety of birds of prey never ceases to amaze us and photographing them is very rewarding. Modern camera technology has vastly improved the hit rate for wildlife action photography and even for a novice bird photographer large raptors are among the easier subjects for flight shots, for obvious reasons – you don’t need to get so close to fill the frame, they fly relatively slowly with less frequent wingbeats, and they are often creatures of habit, allowing for repeat opportunities. But to capture great images you need to be familiar with your camera, alert to opportunities, and have fast reactions.  As with so much of wildlife photography, anticipation is key.

Our top tips for shooting flying raptors

• Large raptors spend a lot of time perched and not much time hunting. Best time to see them on the wing is in the morning a few hours after sunrise as the temperature rises, creating updrafts which help them gain height with little effort. But regular feeding stations like vulture restaurants can be active much earlier. Food is a great magnet for large raptors.  Kills will often attract a variety of eagles and vultures (we’re counting vultures as raptors for the purpose of this tutorial), with lots of opportunities to capture them as they glide in or take off.
• Eagles are often territorial and use favourite perches and nesting sites from day to day and year to year. On the Chobe river, for example, there are specific dead trees which are regularly used by African fish eagles as hunting perches. The eagles are well-used to passing river craft, so are easy to approach on photo boats without disturbing them.  Then it’s a patience game, waiting for take-off. Focussing our attention on these locations is much more productive than merely cruising around waiting for random opportunities.
• A perched raptor will generally take off into the wind, so try to position yourself upwind to capture the bird flying towards you. The stronger the wind, the slower it will fly.  Watch for the bird defecating, usually a sign it is about to take flight.
• When focussed on a perched raptor, allow plenty of space around it in the frame. As soon as it opens its wings to fly it will get much bigger.
• It’s much easier to follow a bird in flight when handholding your camera than when it’s mounted on a tripod or beanbags.  We often use a 300mm or 100-400mm len, rather than a heavy and unwieldy 500mm, for this reason. It’s also easier to pick up a flying bird when you have a wider field of view. Anything less than a 300mm is likely to be of limited use, however.
• Received wisdom is to shoot flying birds at wide apertures, to ensure you have maximum shutter speed.  But in good light, with a relatively slow flier, you can afford to stop down a little, thereby increasing depth of field and making your exact focus point less critical.   A shutter speed of 1/500 second is usually OK for slow flying raptors, although 1/1000 sec is better.  If you can set your aperture to f/8 or even f/11 and maintain adequate shutter speed, then do so.

• Ideally, you want a catchlight in the bird’s eye. In reality, this isn’t usually something you can control in camera, but it can be a factor when deciding which of a sequence of images to keep at the editing stage (or you can cheat and create a digital catchlight!).
• It’s hard to locate a flying bird in your viewfinder if you are too close, so try to pick it up at distance and fire as it comes closer. Start shooting early and don’t wait for perfection: the action will be over before you press the shutter.
• Shoot in burst mode rather than single shot and take plenty of frames.  Even with a relatively slow flying bird, there’s only a split second between a good dynamic wing shape and a floppy, unattractive shape.  If you’re like us, then you probably don’t have the reflexes to capture the best pose with a single shot.
• Ideally, you want to be thinking about composition as you shoot, but in practice there’s usually enough to think about trying to acquire and maintain focus.  If you frame your subject with a bit of space around it (i.e. don’t wait till it’s too close), you can crop your image later. So, for example, if the bird is too much bang in the middle of the frame, you can crop so that it is flying into the picture.
• Try to capture shots as a raptor banks – the diagonal composition adds impact.  For the most dynamic poses, shoot as a bird comes into land, when the landing gear are extended and wings are back for braking.
• Don’t waste your time shooting birds flying away from you!

African fish eagle about to strike, Chobe river

Try to capture your subject against a clean background, such as sky or water. They stand out better and acquiring and maintaining autofocus is easier.  Here, standing in the Chobe photo boat to gain a higher viewpoint avoided distracting bankside detail.

Canon EOS 5D III, EF 300mm + 1.4x Extender, 1/2500 sec, f/8, ISO 800