Chatty Duckling

[Caspar Davis]

This is my first post to this forum. I was emboldened to post it by winning the People's Choice prize in a local contest.

I took the picture on May 25 with my Canon xSi and Canon 100-400 lens at 400. 1/320 at f6.3 ISO 800, Program mode, multi segment metering. Edited with PS Elements - used Auto Smart Fix and very minor crop.
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[Daniel Cadieux]

Let me welcome you to BPN, Caspar. Now these two little fellows are too cute - I can see why they would help you win a "People's Choice" prize as these are the types of subjects the public eats up...congratulations! Nice sibling interaction between the two. The image is suffering from resizing compression - I'm sure the full size is sharper than appears here (see the huge pixelation that appears throughout and most apparent on the BG). Here are a couple of threads that have good resizing/sharpening for web information:

http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=839

http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=18534

I believe a good crop from below would streghten the comp - you could crop to above the two smaller OOF plants below.

Again, welcome to BPN's Avian forum, and hoping to see more from you.

P.S. Spend some time reading, learning, posting, and commenting here and you will eventually leave "Program" mode and start taking full control of your DSLR camera with the Av, Tv, and manual modes :-)

[Brian Barcelos]

Hey Casper, great first shot. Very cute, looks like they are sharing secrets. Image quality looks off, maybe because of your file size? You can post up to 200kb I believe.

[David Thomasson]

Oh, my, I can't stop laughing. She talks, he listens. It's not just human nature. :o

All right, ladies, you can blast me now. :(

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Welcome to BPN, Caspar! The interaction and angle are great. I agree that the compression caused a loss of details since the image is only 69kB. You can post images up to 200kB. Keep them coming!

[Caspar Davis]

... The image is suffering from resizing compression - I'm sure the full size is sharper than appears here (see the huge pixelation that appears throughout and most apparent on the BG). Here are a couple of threads that have good resizing/sharpening for web information:

http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=839

http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=18534

I believe a good crop from below would streghten the comp - you could crop to above the two smaller OOF plants below.

P.S. Spend some time reading, learning, posting, and commenting here and you will eventually leave "Program" mode and start taking full control of your DSLR camera with the Av, Tv, and manual modes :-)

I am trying again witha tighter crop, with Levels correction and some sharpening, saved as bigger file.

I do use Av or Tv when there seems to be a good reason to, but when the light is good and I'm not trying to do anything special Program seems to work well. Is there something about the exposure that could have been improved with more control?

[Daniel Cadieux]

Hi Caspar, the image quality looks much better on the repost. Cuteness factor magnified! :-)


I do use Av or Tv when there seems to be a good reason to, but when the light is good and I'm not trying to do anything special Program seems to work well. Is there something about the exposure that could have been improved with more control?

I thought you used Program all the time - hence my comment. I'm glad you do use the other modes too...I just find it good reason to do so all the time. This particular scene was not difficult for the camera's meter to expose properly, but when you get into tougher exposure situations (even with good light) you will have more consistent results using the other "Creative" modes and/or Manual, along with some exposure compensation.

[Caspar Davis]

Thank you, Daniel, and everyone else who has been so welcoming.

I read the sharpening thread with a lot of interest, but I'm afraid quite a lot of it went over my head.

I'm using Elements, which means that I have to figure out how much of the Photoshop talk I can use, and how to apply it to Elements.

There are obviously some very professional photographers and software people on these lists, and it is an honour to have your comments and advice. Looking at the posted images has certainly raised my standards a lot already. I know I have a great deal to learn and hope that you will continue to be patient with me as I do so.