Snow Geese Landing

Nikon D1h, 500mm f/4 AF-S, Matrix Metering, 1/1250sec, f/6.3, ISO 200, Gitzo 410, Wimberly Sidekick, RAW Format

Proper exposure of white birds is sometimes a challenge when making in-flight images. In most cases, the camera's meter registers the proper exposure of the greater share of the image--usually the background--and sets the camera appropriately. Unfortunately, birds can be a problem because they usually occupy such a small portion of the view screen and their exposure is usually significantly different from the background. Since in most cases the background isn't interesting, most photographers don't mind the background exposure being slightly off while they're pursuing a proper exposure for the subject. To do this, manually setting an eposure setting that's perfect for the subject is advisable so regardless of the background, the subject will be properly exposed.