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BPN Member
My best image so far
That is now 6 months since i took bird photography seriously, and, to date, I reckon this is my sharpest image taken so far 
I know, the image can be better, and thats why I am hoping you people on here will tell me how I can do it better.
I took this image handheld in a wooded area, it was a bright day but the trees did prevent direct sunlight into the area. I had my Canon 7D set on AV mode, and attached was my Sigma 150-500. The aperture value was at f8, and the ISO set at 400, hence, the reason the shutter speed was automatically set at 1/40 sec.
As I said, I am very happy with the image, it is slightly cropped. The bird was about 20 feet from me and my lens was set at 267mm.
I realise that 1/40 second is not fast enough. Should have I set the shutter speed manually and had the ISO higher?
6 months ago, I only imagined taking photographs like this, so I am hopefully 'getting there' 
Thanks in advance for any advice given to me
[IMG][/IMG]
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You found a lovely bird here but unfortunately the camera made a bad choice of SS. 1/40 is too slow to handhold 267mm, which is actually 427mm with your crop sensor, unless you are very strong and steady. A few people will occasionally show a sharp image under those circumstances, but it isn't something that will routinely give a good result. And there is no way to "sharpen" a soft image.
But you are close here -- just a squeak more steadiness may have made a big difference.
Two thoughts: If you find a situation like that and have no choice, shoot a burst -- one may be sharper than the others if it falls at the instant where hand shake is momentarily "still" as the shake changes direction. But far better is to watch the SS and keep it at double the reciprocal of the focal length, and more than that the longer you go -- so for this setup that would have been 1/1000. And I'd still shoot a burst there. And if you're out at 500mm, I'd try to get more like 1/2000.
I know this isn't easy with low light, but that should be what you're thinking. So when you see the SS too low, think about increasing the ISO or opening the aperture. No real need to go to Tv, unless you're going to be shooting in that light for a long time -- you can just change whatever it takes to increase the SS. There are also down sides to going to a high ISO or a wide open aperture. It's a balancing act and experience is the best teacher.
But you're getting there! Keep practicing and learning will come.
Focus is also critical for sharp shots of subjects such as this. Don't let the camera decide that, either -- choose a single focus point and try to get it on the eye. Then note the aperture and see how the DOF is going to work. You may not be able to get the SS you would like -- something always has to give.
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Hi William! What species is this? And where was it taken? (geographically).
Super cute pose and capture. That big OOF twig (?) to the left of the bird is a bit of an issue here, as are the hidden feet....I know it would be really difficult in a head-on like this, but sure would be nice to see a bit more beak here....because it's rather hard to differentiate it. You are likely right... could use a bit more ss....even birds are "sitting still", they are always moving! I'm sure some others will chime in on more of the techs, etc.... TFS! It's always great to capture a "pretty bird" like this!
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You're very lucky that the bird froze while you took the shot. Shooting in bursts will help that happen, but you should go for a higher SS. I use ISO 800 as my default SS on my 7D. If you don't underexpose, the 7D does pretty good at ISO 1600 and ISO 3200. I would have opened the aperture all the way and shot this at ISO 1600.
It's better to deal with a little bit of noise than to shoot blurred images over and over.
Congrats on the nice shot.
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Originally Posted by
Sandy Witvoet
Hi William! What species is this? And where was it taken? (geographically).
Super cute pose and capture. That big OOF twig (?) to the left of the bird is a bit of an issue here, as are the hidden feet....I know it would be really difficult in a head-on like this, but sure would be nice to see a bit more beak here....because it's rather hard to differentiate it. You are likely right... could use a bit more ss....even birds are "sitting still", they are always moving! I'm sure some others will chime in on more of the techs, etc.... TFS! It's always great to capture a "pretty bird" like this!
Hello Sandy, thanks for the advice, its a european robin, taken at Lochore Meadows, Fife, Scotland
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Wildlife Moderator
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BPN Member
Originally Posted by
Steve Kaluski
Hi William, is this a big crop as the IQ is suffering a little I feel? The image is very saturated, however it is also an RGB file and it should have an sRGB profile for web presentation, so there could be a colour shift. If possible, moving slightly to the left to reveal the feet would have been good, however... nature sometimes does not play ball.
I would look to:
- Running some noise reduction to the BKG
- Adjusting the Saturation
- Ease on the Contrast & blacks, the shadow areas are choked and you are loosing detail
- Dropping the blue within the plumage
- Cloning out the hotspots on the branches
- Ensure that you correctly profile and convert your image foe web presentation.
Not great or ideal, but to illustrate my points arranging them side by side in PS you can compare your OP and the attached to see the changes, hope it helps.
Cheers
Steve
Thanks Steve, I am not really an expert with photoshop, i just try and adjust sliders to make the image look better. I never touched the saturation, so maybes, some other sharpenig tool or whatever changed it However,all you have said is noted, and thanks for that
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BPN Member
Sorry Steve, thers more It was a small crop, very small, and please tell me where the IQ is suffering, its the only way am gonny know
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Wildlife Moderator
William, the image looked a little grainy and lacked detail overall and it has the appearance of being a big crop IMHO, however it's probably due to the SS.
What do you use for RAW conversion? If you are shooting RAW, which is the best way to go, you could fire the RAW over via Dropbox, I can look at it and if convenient walk you through some simple steps, your call. I'm around until Saturday morning then off for over a week and will only have my MacBook Pro with me, never ideal for colour work I feel.
A Happy New Year, I trust it was only a wee dram you had last night William.
Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.
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BPN Member
Originally Posted by
Steve Kaluski
William, the image looked a little grainy and lacked detail overall and it has the appearance of being a big crop IMHO, however it's probably due to the SS.
What do you use for RAW conversion? If you are shooting RAW, which is the best way to go, you could fire the RAW over via Dropbox, I can look at it and if convenient walk you through some simple steps, your call. I'm around until Saturday morning then off for over a week and will only have my MacBook Pro with me, never ideal for colour work I feel.
A Happy New Year, I trust it was only a wee dram you had last night William.
Aye Steve. just a wee dram Unfortunately, I have deleted the original RAW file and only kept a jpeg. But, the next time i go out, i will keep the RAW files and drop one of for you. I would really appreciate you walking me through it, I just put the RAW files onto my PC, then work on them in photoshop, save the 'good' ones as a jpeg, then delete the RAW file
Its a wee bit rainy here the noo, so i mite not get oot fur a few days and a Happy New Year to you aswell (if u didnt know - the celebrations in Scotland last a few days)
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Wildlife Moderator
No worries William, that's fine.
(if u didnt know - the celebrations in Scotland last a few days)
William, I'm a Perth lad, so I know the price of fish as they say.
Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.
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William, for any image that you have any remote hope for, don't EVER delete the RAW file. That's like going to the drugstore in film days, getting cheap machine prints, and throwing away the negatives before you even look at the prints.
When you make a JPEG you are throwing away a huge amount of the information in the file, especially the ability to recover shadow and highlight detail. Once those details are cooked into a JPEG, they're gone. Next year you'll be much better at processing and you'll hate the JPEGs you made.
And along with the RAW file (at least with Lightroom or Adobe Camera RAW) there will be a "sidecar" file with the same filename but a .xmp extension, that contains the RAW slider positions. Keep it with the RAW file if you want to be able to return to see the same adjustments later.
Last edited by Diane Miller; 01-01-2014 at 04:20 PM.
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Originally Posted by
Steve Kaluski
No worries William, that's fine.
William, I'm a Perth lad, so I know the price of fish as they say.
Hi Steve, went out today and took a few pics, i have the original RAW files. How to i transfer them to you? Whats dropbox? cheers Wullie
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Wildlife Moderator
Hi William, dropped you a line, let me know how it goes and if you can fwd the RAW, hopefully it's fairly simple to do and in theory, it should only take a few minutes.
Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.
