First time shooting birds

[Mrselfdestruct]

I was at the beach today with my girlfreind and of course, there was A LOT of birds. I figured I'd try shooting some in flight bird shots, unfortunately all except one were OOF, and the one that was in focus doesn't show the head :( Anyways, this is the results, a couple pics that are alright enough to post. ID on all would be cool, I'm pretty sure I know what they are (theyre pretty common birds to see in Florida on the coast) but I'm sure you bird photogs would have the exact names.
1.
http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/9268/pigonje9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

2.
http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/7411/birdrr9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

3.
http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/7479/bird2wz7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[dancinec]

Welcome to the forum. A very nice set of shots. It is best to start with common birds and work out your photographic techniques. They are little soft on focus, but with practice you will get the techniques down. Keep on shooting birds and sharing.

[Mrselfdestruct]

Thanks for the reply! I know theyre a bit soft on focus. I am having a problem with that lately, I usually shoot macro and even though I'm new to all kinds of photography, my manual focus has been off lately. I dont know why, everything looks perfectly focused till I see the picture at home. Maybe when I hit the shutter button it moves it a tiny bit and throws it off. I'm just starting to hold the shutter half in before taking my pics, but I still need the practice. Because I'm new to photography, I shoot anything I can, this way I find my favorite style, and I get experience and practice in everything I can.

Shane

[pknight]

The last one is a Brown Pelican. The gulls look a lot like the Franklin's gulls we have around here, but I don't have my books with me to make a more positive ID.

[canonloader]

Shane, set the camera to Av mode and autofocus, and the lowest ISO number the light will allow and still get shutter speeds of 1/750 or more. Then set the Focus to AI Servo. That will keep the lens focussing when the bird moves closer or further away. Then set to Center Point focus. Those gulls are excellent practice targets and you will need to practice getting the camera to your eye, finger on the shutter button and the bird in the viewfinder when it comes up to your eye. A few days of practicing that and you'll have it.

[wlaramie]

Shane, set the camera to Av mode and autofocus, and the lowest ISO number the light will allow and still get shutter speeds of 1/750 or more. Then set the Focus to AI Servo. That will keep the lens focussing when the bird moves closer or further away. Then set to Center Point focus. Those gulls are excellent practice targets and you will need to practice getting the camera to your eye, finger on the shutter button and the bird in the viewfinder when it comes up to your eye. A few days of practicing that and you'll have it.

Welcome Shane and good first effort. Mitch's and the other suggestions are what makes this forum so special. Look forward to to seeing more of your work.

[luckyart60]

Welcome, be warned once you start this you will become addicted LOL. For many years I drove my car and never noticed any birds, now all my friends get crazy when I say hey did you see that bird.