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Using a fast burst rate

I know a lot of people don’t see the need for high FPS on camera’s but as a wildlife photographer (amongst others) it’s a must have, as in some situations it greatly improves your chances of getting the shot you want. This article demonstrates it’s use nicely, showing a sequence of shots with the D3 operating at 10fps.

My first attempt

10 frames per second

Isn’t fast burst rate just down to luck?
I have had people say to me in the past that burst rate shooting is pointless and just down to luck. And, that timing a single frame is just as effective. Well in some situations I agree high burst rates are pointless (taking 8 frames per second of a bird sitting still would be silly) so it’s all about using features on your camera in the right time and place. In situations like this, timing a single frame would almost be impossible because once you see ‘the shot’ in your viewfinder it’s too late to capture it because once you then react and press the shutter button, the action has moved on. Of course there is a certainly degree of luck to shooting in burst mode because you need to hope that one of your frames captures a good pose…but the chances of capturing that are greatly increased and, at the end of the day it makes sense to use every feature at your disposal on the camera to help you capture the shot…just ask any of the wildlife or sports shooters the world over!

Think about what you’re trying to achieve
Observe the subject, how it moves, where it moves and use this to work out the best way of capturing the action – just randomly firing off shots and hoping for the best isn’t the key to success when shooting high fps. As with any type of photography, planning what you’re trying to do and knowing what you want to capture is the key to getting the shot. Don’t just switch to a high frame rate and start shooting multiple frames of anything that moves as that rarely works…so again, think about the shot you want and if you need to up the frame rate or not.

A good example…
I was walking along the boardwalk at Green Cay Wetlands in Florida and had spotted a fellow photographer further along, who looked to be shooting with a similar sized lens to myself. I had noticed him there for a while as I was walking along so I suspected he was on to something interesting. As I approached we got chatting and he pointed out this Tri Coloured Heron, he’d been watching it jump from the bank of an island out in to the water for the last 15 minutes or so as it tried to catch fish. I set myself up, resting the camera on the edge of the boardwalk and waited for my first attempt at catching the action…

More speed and pre-guessing the strike
After my first attempt something became clear straight away, I need to swap the D300 over for the D3 and make the most of the auto ISO and faster frame rate. The action was so fast and over so quickly that I needed optimal chances of catching a good pose and freezing it with a fast shutter speed. I opted for a shutter speed of 1/1600 and an aperture of f8 and underexposed by -0.7 as I didn’t want to blow the whites as they reflected the water. The reason for the smallish aperture was simple, despite wanting to let in as much light as I could for the fast shutter speed, I simply could not predict where the Heron would fly out to in the water. I literally had to pick a spot of water just far enough out that I couldn’t see the Heron in the viewfinder, and I had to hope he flew roughly out in a straight line…so I wanted as big a DOF as I thought I could get away with to allow him to fly in to. My first attempt with the D3 is above where I tried to follow the action a little as he moved across the frame. Unfortunately in shot number 9 the Heron is too far forward and just out of my DOF. Because I was pre-focused and had it locked in place the FPS peaked at 10 for the sequence. The first shot was taken at 3:48:17.4 and the final shot at 3:48:18.4!

One last leap
I only got two more attempts with the D3 before the Heron flew off. I managed to catch the sequence above which was quite nice, although one of my favourite shots from it was soft due to the bird flying out of my DOF as described above. I showed the fellow photographer, who I’d been watching with, what I captured and think in doing so I may just have sold him on the idea of buying a D3…!
We parted ways and went off in search of other subjects but I really wanted another try thinking I could improve on what I had captured so far…so when, about half an hour later, I saw the Heron return in the distance I went back. This time I focused completely in the water and held the camera still without trying to pan to follow the action…and although the full sequence was not as good as the one above (he flew off out of frame rather than back to the bank and he was not fully in frame in most of them) he graced me with one capture that was exactly what I wanted…caught in mid flight as it dips it’s beak in to the water, having just jumped from the bank of the nearby small island.

Tri Coloured Heron, D3 with 200-400

Tri Coloured Heron, D3 with 200-400

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About the author

Richard Peters is a Surrey based professional wildlife photographer, Nikon Ambassador, and one of the few British photographers to receive the accolade of European Wildlife Photographer of the Year. He is known for a style that often favours dramatic use of light, runs wildlife photography workshops and, from camera clubs to big industry events, holds talks about his work.

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