I read a post by American photographer Scott Bourne this morning about how to photograph birds in flight, which I had never really done. I followed his advice and set the shutterspeed to 1/1000 sec in auto ISO and took pictures on Ballinskelligs Beach of the Oyster Catcher. I came home and had a good few pictures in focus with the bird separated from the background. Here is the link if you like to read the post for yourself.
http://photofocus.com/2010/01/22/a-simple-primer-on-photographing-birds-in-flight/
Oyster Catchers
Later in the evening I went to the Glen, St.Finians Bay, again, to watch the sun going down. Tripod and Remote Shutter Release are vital for those pictures and a graduated neutral density filter can help to darken or accentuate the sky slightly.
