I have my shutter speed as high as I can figure out to make it. I am shooting on "S" which I can only assume is Shutter priority. But I still can not get clear "action" shots. What am I doing wrong???? This is what I got today, and I am terribly disappointed. (Clearly the shot is wrong in framing as well, but I am more concerned with the blur)
Make sure your focus is on the bird and "follow" him for a tiny bit (with the shutter 1/2 way down) before actually taking the shot. The bird will be more in focus and the background blurred. Make any sense? lol
@3littleks Yes, that makes perfect sense. I was following him, but I get so excited to see it I just click click click... I will have to try that. I feel like I don't have enough time to just follow or I'll miss the shot!
You really just need a faster shutter speed. As a general rule, stopping most human and animal motion requires about 1/500. Obviously, faster speeds are required if you're shooting action sports or very fast animal movements, but a bird in flight like this could really benefit from a little faster shutter.
I'm not familiar with your camera model but if you can't get a faster shutter speed than that you could always try increasing the ISO speed if you can which may tell the camera to use a faster shutter.
In addition to what @marubozo said, you need to use a higher ISO speed. I have found shooting at 1/1000 will be perfect for capturing most animals in flight, with the ever-lovely hummingbird the only exception.
"S" mode, or shutter-priority mode, on Nikon cameras does exactly what you think: you set the shutter speed, and the camera determines your aperture automatically based on the built-in light meter reading. However, the camera does not adjust your ISO.
If you want, try this shot again on shutter-priority at 400 ISO and 1/1000 exposure. I bet your camera will shoot at about an f/4 on a sunny day.
What you want to try is something called Panning, you actually use a slower shutter speed like 1/250 , so with birding you just need to work out which shutter speed is better for the speed, but make sure you dont make the shutter speed too fast. Try following the bird with your camera, so the bird is in focus but the background is in motion
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I'm not familiar with your camera model but if you can't get a faster shutter speed than that you could always try increasing the ISO speed if you can which may tell the camera to use a faster shutter.
"S" mode, or shutter-priority mode, on Nikon cameras does exactly what you think: you set the shutter speed, and the camera determines your aperture automatically based on the built-in light meter reading. However, the camera does not adjust your ISO.
If you want, try this shot again on shutter-priority at 400 ISO and 1/1000 exposure. I bet your camera will shoot at about an f/4 on a sunny day.