Wingbeat — Wing TipsField notes on shutter speed, wingbeats and long lenses, from the makers of Wingbeat.https://wingbeatapp.com/en-gbThe peak of the strokehttps://wingbeatapp.com/wing-tips/peak-of-the-stroke/https://wingbeatapp.com/wing-tips/peak-of-the-stroke/Twice per wingbeat the wings genuinely stop moving. Learn to shoot in that window and a shot that was out of reach becomes a body-freezing problem instead.Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTField craftThe reciprocal rule is lying to you — in both directionshttps://wingbeatapp.com/wing-tips/the-reciprocal-rule-is-lying-to-you/https://wingbeatapp.com/wing-tips/the-reciprocal-rule-is-lying-to-you/1/focal-length was written for 35mm film and grain. On a 61MP sensor it's optimistic; with modern stabilisation it's three stops pessimistic. Here's the corrected version.Wed, 21 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMTGearPanning buys you nothing on the wingshttps://wingbeatapp.com/wing-tips/panning-buys-you-nothing-on-wings/https://wingbeatapp.com/wing-tips/panning-buys-you-nothing-on-wings/A good pan cancels most of a bird's body speed and none of its flapping. Knowing which of the two you're trying to freeze is the whole game.Wed, 07 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMTField craftHow sharp is sharp?https://wingbeatapp.com/wing-tips/how-sharp-is-sharp/https://wingbeatapp.com/wing-tips/how-sharp-is-sharp/"Sharp" isn't a property of a photograph — it's a relationship between blur, pixel size and how closely anyone is going to look. Pick the wrong one and you'll pay two stops of ISO for nothing.Wed, 10 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMTThe mathsWhen the number is impossiblehttps://wingbeatapp.com/wing-tips/when-the-number-is-impossible/https://wingbeatapp.com/wing-tips/when-the-number-is-impossible/Hummingbirds — and any small bird you refuse to pan — ask for shutter speeds no camera on earth can deliver. That isn't a bug in the maths, it's the maths telling you to change the photograph.Wed, 19 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTThe mathsReading a bird before it flieshttps://wingbeatapp.com/wing-tips/reading-a-bird-before-it-flies/https://wingbeatapp.com/wing-tips/reading-a-bird-before-it-flies/Takeoff is the most expensive moment in bird photography and the most predictable. Learn the tells and you can have the right shutter speed dialled in before anything happens.Tue, 28 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMTSpecies