Focus on birds in trees

Hey all. I have been having some difficulty shooting static birds in trees with my new to me 70-200 f4 non is. I always feel like the camera is focusing on the tree branches I am aiming through, even though I am on center point focus and there are close branches, but not directly in the way.

Is this an issue that others have experienced? I played with the lens outside of trees and it works fine, so I'm guessing its just the fact that there are too many branches in the frame.

Thanks.

You may be right, there may simply be too many branches obstructing the bird. Something else that can happen is a lack of contrast in the area that you're placing the activated focus point. If light is low and as a result contrast is low in that spot(preferably the eye) you'll need to either manually focus or try to find a spot on the bird that has more contrast from the background at approximately the same distance that the bird's eye is positioned. Without an edge, i.e contrast from the background or on the bird itself, the auto focus system can struggle to calculate the distance and a stutter can occur, resulting in soft photos. This is less of an issue with birds that have contrasting plumage but on birds with little or no contrast in low light it can be. Foreground objects like branches can be tough but if moving to get a clearer shot is not possible then manual focus might be your best option.

I think you described my shooting conditions right on Steve. I often have to shoot into darker areas where the birds are and the birds are often darker due to their feathers, so both situations decrease contrast a bit.

I was shooting some Canadian geese today and their dark heads and eyes made it difficult to focus on, even in the open. The white geese were easy.

Thanks.

from your Flickr site, it looks like you are shooting a Canon T1i...

I'd suggest using only center point focusing (the dot in the middle).
(Might help zero in on hour subject.)

Tripods help to, if the bird is stationary, and you have the time to compose.

Good luck.

You might also want to try setting your camera up for back button focus in this situation. The advantage is that once you get the bird in focus and you release the button, it will stay in focus as you recompose, in other words, the camera won't then attempt to focus on a branch throwing the bird out of focus as you trip the shutter.

When I get the lack of contrast hunting issue I try to find an "edge" of the bird with a brighter background, get it to focus, then recompose and shoot. I second the suggestion about using back button focus. Set your shutter button to just meter and fire. It takes a bit of use to become accustomed to it, but it really helps out.

Sometimes manual focusing is the only way.

Alveric wrote in post #16564415
Sometimes manual focusing is the only way.

Yep..(if you have the time), a little twist of the focus ring, and you're golden.

mike325 wrote in post #16547415
Hey all. I have been having some difficulty shooting static birds in trees with my new to me 70-200 f4 non is. I always feel like the camera is focusing on the tree branches I am aiming through, even though I am on center point focus and there are close branches, but not directly in the way.

Is this an issue that others have experienced? I played with the lens outside of trees and it works fine, so I'm guessing its just the fact that there are too many branches in the frame.

Thanks.

Small moving branches in front of a stationary bird will play havoc on an autofocus system. They're just not that smart. I usually just manual focus at that point. Unfortunately the center dot method with autofocus will still have trouble because frankly, the center "box" is going to have a hard time figuring out if you want the edge of a branch or the bit of bird. You have to be very, very close with 200mm on a small bird in a tree, to actually fill the frame and make it easy for the autofocus to really hone in on just the bird. Depth of field comes into play here too. Wide open, you may find you miss focus a touch. Stop down to F8 or F11 and you may see focus/sharpness happen on those little birds better.

Very best,

I'd also suggest you turn off "focus search" if you have it on that way it won't keep hunting all over the place if it can't focus on the subject. Do you use Ai Servo? Just curious.

M_Six wrote in post #16564359
When I get the lack of contrast hunting issue I try to find an "edge" of the bird with a brighter background, get it to focus, then recompose and shoot. I second the suggestion about using back button focus. Set your shutter button to just meter and fire. It takes a bit of use to become accustomed to it, but it really helps out.

Similar to this method, I'll often try to find a branch that appears to be exactly the same focal distance as the part of the bird I want, usually its eye/head. I focus on the same-distance branch, (using back button focus) and then aim at the bird. Surprisingly it works out 90% of the time.