One of the most satifying parts of bird photography is to capture them in flight. However to do this takes a little bit of knowledge and technique.

When I attempt images of birds in flight I usually opt to put my camera into shutter speed priority, or if I am feeling a little more adventurous I will set it to full manual.

The key to getting a crisp image of a bird in flight is getting the shutter speed correct.

I would recommend setting the shutter speed at between 1/1600 second and 1/2500 Second. For smaller birds however you may wish to consider an even quicker shutter speed to freeze their wings in flight.

It is also essential to pan with the bird in flight. This can take a little bit of getting used to but I have found that with practice this does become second nature.

I do always get asked what ISO setting I use , but my answer is always the same. Within reason I set the ISO to whatever is needed to get the shot. Shutter speed is the primary factor for consideration for me.

Many cameras will have auto ISO settings and some will allow for the user to set a maximum ISO. My preference is to set the maximum ISO to 1600, but with improvements in cameras, processing software and the introduction of DENoise this can be stretched even further and still manage to capture a great image.

Having said that shutter speed is everything some interesting images can be captured by reducing the shutter speed and capturing movement in the birds wings. All this comes with practice.