Wildlife Photography across the Water: Techniques-Back Button Focus 2

Friday 7 August 2009

Techniques-Back Button Focus 2

Just a quickie to expand on Martins post yesterday, We not only use different systems but we now use different focusing techniques, When i shot with Canon gear i too used the back button focus technique and found it to be a very effective way of taking images, I had the buttons set so that the back button focused and activated the I.S and all the shutter button did was take the image, This worked well for all situations but especially where the subject was static i.e bird on nest, I would then focus with the back button and then take my thumb from it and just use the shutter button which would then not move or hunt the focusing system, The back button focus i found not so effective on the Canon 1D MK3 as the focusing system at the time struggled to track a moving target and you would need to keep 'bumping' the button to get the AF back on track, Top bird in flight photographer Jim Neiger uses the Canon 1D3 and only uses the shutter button to do all his focusing and shooting and christened the term 'bump focusing' whilst using the 1D3,
After changing systems to Nikon and 'starting again' learning a complete new system i dropped the back button focus technique as with the Nikon system you start the AF with the back button and still need to touch the shutter button to activate the VR so i have stayed with the traditional front/shutter button system as in days of old, I have found this to work well with the Nikon system and my hit ratio i must admit is higher than when i used Canon or any other system, Its something that i do intend to try again at some point but at this moment in time i am old school

Dave

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Bio's

David Courtenay, a self taught wildlife and nature photographer, has been capturing images for over 30 years. He has had a passion for wildlife since early childhood and remembers being glued to the television whenever Survival, Wildlife on One and other natural history documentaries were shown. In the 2006 he swapped his established career for the life of a wildlife photographer, such a move demands a measure of uncompromising passion and commitment.

David has travelled extensively throughout Europe as well as spending more than 7 months in India working with local guides and trackers in search of Bengal Tiger, Asian One horned Rhino and Asian Elephant. He has also photographed Wildlife in Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Sumatra, Africa, Canada and America. Working closely with Conservation companies he tries to raise funds to help Wildlife that has been put on the endangered list by poaching and habitation loss

Martin Dyer has had a passion for avian wildlife since childhood, particularly raptors. Photography was also another keen interest and it was with the specific availability and control of the whole process that digital offers that Martin was then able to combine the two in 2003. Based in the UK, Martin is a regular visitor to Scotland, specifically the Isle of Mull to watch the Eagles resident there. Other trips to Europe and around the UK are usually part of Martin’s agenda in a typical year.

However, as a firm believer on making the most of the local patch, Martin has spent a lot of time and hard work creating a wildlife garden which is reaping the rewards with many new species and varieties of wildlife. A keen member of a number of wildlife photographic groups, Martin is keen to expand his portfolio into other areas of wildlife, and has already established a wide portfolio of images of fungi.