Another Heron Picture

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Team,

I used a Gitzo 1531 and a RRS medium size Ball Head. My tripod shots are still not sharp?

Just purchased a Gitzo 3530 - LS and a King Cobra head. I am not suggesting that equipment was a compelling factor in this novice photo. What I currently have is great, I wanted to add more rigor and prepare for the 500/600 lens next year.

I read several great techniques in "The Art of Bird Photography" :

face tight against camera
left hand on top of lens
AV - open
do not use cable release on shots > 1/60 ss
stabilize tripod

Could it be practice (lol)

Of all the critical facters mentioned above and others too, what are the 2 or 3 most important I need to start with, to build on the others.

Thank you all, I am trying to get batter and I have a long journey.

Regards

J$

[Julie Kenward]

Jeff, could you give us the stats for the photo? If I knew what aperture and shutter speed you used I might be able to help.

However...this is a GBH - my nemesis! Without seeing your stats I'd have to say it's the bird and not the photographer. :D:):D

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Gitzo 1531
RRS medium ball head
ISO = 400
5.6
1/4000

[Julie Kenward]

Okay, at ISO 4000 you sure don't have a problem with shutter speed being too slow! My guess is it might be the f/5.6 aperture. You seem to have the best focus near the back feathers so my next question would be did you focus in on his face or were you just focusing on the bird in general? Always go right for the eye if possible - cheeks also work. Because you had plenty of light and no distracting BG to worry about I would try this again and push your aperture to 8 or higher and see if that doesn't help.

Another thought I'm having is that the feathers around his neck look almost like down feathers. If this is a juvenile (I have no idea...just thinking out loud) that might be why the feathers look so "fluffy" instead of sharp and crisp. The head is definitely not in the proper focus, though so I could be totally off on this.

[Austin Thomas]

Hi Jeff,

At 1/4000 shutter speed on a tripod then it should be razor sharp. Try taking some pictures of static subjects at the same distance and see if they too are OOF. As Julie observed the body is certainly sharper than the head which suggests the wrong focus point or insufficient DOF.

What focal length were you using and how close were you to the subject? The longer the focal length and the closer to the subject the narrower the DOF will be. When you move up to the 500/600 you mention, the DOF gets even narrower.....

I hope that helps.

Austin

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Team,

How would the DOF matter when the head and neck are on the same plane, or same distance from the lens?

Moreover, when someone moves to a smaller aperture (e.g., 5.6--->8) does it increase both focal depth and width?

Thank you for the support.

Regards

J$

[Austin Thomas]

Hi Jeff,

You are right the head and neck are pretty close to being identical distances from the camera. The near side body of the Heron however is probably 8- 10 inches closer than the eye.

If you provide the camera details, focal length used and distance to subject then that might help confirm or deny a DOF issue.

For example assuming a Canon 30D, 400mm at 30ft subject distance then the total DOF front to back at f5.6 is only just over 4 inches. If you focus on the near side of the Heron then the DOF will have run out before it reaches the neck and head plane.

I hope that helps.

Cheers

Austin

[Robert Amoruso]

Jeff,

We need the full stats to assess the situation. I would need to know the camera, lens, teleconverter, etc. along with exposure and the focusing points used (all points, selected point, etc.)

With my Canon 1D Mark III or 50D and the 600mm f/4 IS and 1.4x TC, if I used all AF points, the body being closer then the head would be sharp and the head just about the sharpness you see here. With my combination, f/5.6 and a focus distance or 75 feet I only have a 6" DOF and some of that is not critical sharpness.

AF systems in an all AF points mode will generally pick the point closest to the camera to base focus on.

In instances like this you need to focus on the head, stop down (at f/8 my DOF is 9") to get the head sharp. Picking a singular focus point helps you do this.

At some later date, I am going to move this to the educational forum. Ideally and Jeff it was not a problem posting the image here, avain images should be posted in one of the avian only forums or Eager to Learn (EtoL). EtoL would have been a good choice here as well.

If you need some additional help or have questions, please post them. DOF info can be found here:

http://johnhendry.com/gadget/dofcalc.htm
http://www.dofmaster.com/digital_coc.html

I am also working on a DOF and Hyperfocal distance tutoral for the eZine.

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Jeff I'm moving the bird to Eager to Learn Should get more traffic there.

Holding wise can give you a couple of suggestions:
The King Cobra is not the best choice, might want to check the bulletins.
In the IPTs we are suggesting to place thumb and little finger on the lens plate then push with the other three up on the lens (works on Wimberly)
Do push with your face against the camera body to take out play.

The cable release is not recommended If you are using the cable and action starts you are doomed !! If you need the release can use the built in camera delay, works fine.

Something i like to do is every time I go out try making a couple of images at a low shutter speed to check myself. Pick something with writing or lots of texture.

[Harold Davis]

it just looks to me that the focus point was on its body and not the head. if i had to guess, the bird was centered in the frame and the center focus bracket was used and this image was cropped to current composition?

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Robert,

Thanks, some stats were provided above: (Header - the details)

Additionally, Subject was approximately 75 feet from lens, I used single shot mode with the center point for focus and -1/3 EV. I thought it was focused on the head/neck, maybe not?

Your point regarding aperture was well made. I inferred the following:

Using a 5.6 ap,.. the DOF is so shallow that in the event I miss the head focus point - the DOF is not wide enough to compensate or provide a margin of error. Of course, If I an learn to hit my mark, this is somewhat academic.

So much for the old saying "always shoot wide open".

I looked at your DOF information. Please provide the DOF product for this:

400 MM lens
5.6
75 feet to subject

Do you use center point focus the majority of the time and do you separate AF from metering and image?

I appreciate your help, this is great!

Regards

J$

[Jeff Cashdollar]

One more questions, then out to practice.

Do you stay (for the most part) in Al Servo? Optionally, one could change modes based on the situation (e.g., one shot, AL focus or Al Servo).

I am thinking about staying in Al Servo, using center focus, using the base 40D settings (same as Mr. Morris) and working on sample shots and histograms prior to shooting.

Happy Holidays,

J$