After last weekend's all-too-easy shots of a Glossy Ibis, I lay in wait at a local pond with the intention of photographing a Grey Heron in flight. I have many images of this resident whilst fishing, but up 'til now have not been successful with any shots of it airborne.
The trick it to develop a smooth panning technique to follow the subject, but also to keep the whole of the heron in the frame and keep the eye sharp while firing the shutter. This last point is critical: the viewer's eye will always be drawn to the eyes of the subject of a photograph, and if they're not in focus the picture doesn't work. It gets deleted - no exceptions.
Being able to anticipate when the bird will take off is also helpful, as you have to be locked-on from the start. Trying to acquire the subject in the viewfinder once in flight when using a super-telephoto lens is very difficult, and good results are hard to achieve.
300mm f/4 AF-S Nikkor with TC-14E II. 1/640 second at f/5.6. -0.67 EV compensation. ISO 800
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