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Thread: Yellow-Rumped Warbler

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    Default Yellow-Rumped Warbler



    This photo is from the Spring of this year. I finally got Lightroom 5, so I'm going back through my archives to reprocess some of my photos. I realize that I underexposed this photo by at least a stop. I brought everything up one stop and then increased the shadows in Lightroom, I'm wondering if the bird is still too dark?

    Photo details:
    captured 4/12/2014
    1/1600 sec.
    f/5.6
    ISO 800
    canon EF 400mm f/5.6
    canon 60D
    cropped - 76% of the original size

    C&C welcome.

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    I don't know this bird (actually I don't know about 99.9% of the birds) so I'm not sure about the darkness, but I wouldn't say it's too dark. Nonetheless, my inclination is to push exposure up on any that aren't very black, just to get detail. With the right light, even a raven or crow can have detail from light reflecting on the feathers. But here, with an underexposed dark bird against a bright BG, you may have gone as far as you can without too much noise. (But only you can determine that!)

    The main issue I see with the image is that it isn't very sharp. It will be very difficult to get good detail for a small in the frame bird, but I think it's something we all want to see, having been spoiled by the masters here! Focus is critical. I've seen many excellently sharp birds from that lens. I don't know the camera, either. Does it give you good control to choose a single focus point and put it right on the bird? The flowers in the lower right actually look sharper. Your shutter speed and ISO look good. Was the camera on a very solid tripod or hand held?

    People here spend years perfecting techniques, and it pays. I don't know where you are on that learning curve.

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    Hi Tyler, I do agree with Diane that the bird needs to be sharper, but on the other hand, the composition is really nice. The whole image cries out "It's Spring!".

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    Diane...does Lightroom have the ability to show focus points....maybe there's a plugin? I think it would
    help out a lot for people who take out of focus shots to see where their focus was at the time the shutter
    was pushed.

    Doug

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    That would be good, but no, it doesn't. It's recorded in proprietary metadata that LR/ACR can't read. For Canon users, Canon DPP does (there's undoubtedly an equivalent for Nikon), and could be used for that on images as needed, even if someone's chosen workflow is LR. And Artie often mentions how BreezeBrowser does.

    But there are drawbacks with the focus point display. If focus hold and recompose was used, the point shown as active would have been locked on a different part of the image when focus was achieved than when the shutter was activated. There is also the potential for a subject to move between focus and shutter release. And if several helper or surrounding points were in use, only the center one will show when a helper point might actually have set the focus at a slightly different point. If Zone Focus is used (on a Canon) it does show the correct active point, but the camera chose that point, not the photographer. Cameras are very smart these days, but some decisions are better left to the user.

    For me, the simplest thing is just to be aware of the points I see illuminated in the viewfinder, and to be aware of pitfalls such as subject movement or the focus and recompose issue. If an image isn't sharp there can be several causes other than where the focus point was. It's a learning curve but the nice thing about it is that just going out and shooting results in learning -- with a little thinking about it during and after.

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    Thanks for the feedback everyone! In terms of composition, I wasn't sure how distracting the main branch would be. I thought placing it evenly in the frame with the bird in the left third would work best - I'm glad others think the composition works as well! Diane - it does look like the flowers to the right are sharper. I think I was using the center af point, and the focus-recompose method (using back-button af). I'm still working on my technique, it's all a learning process

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    Welcome to the club! It's not a very exclusive one, as we're all learning! There are so many factors that affect subject sharpness. Back-button AF should be a good technique -- this may have been an unlucky instance.

    One thing I wonder about -- the flowers just below the bird looks sharper. Is it possible that "helper" points locked on those and not the bird? I've seen similar things happen even with the 5D3, which is supposed to have the same AF as the 1DX. Frustrating. I think the camera AF really "likes" areas with fine detail, such as you see in the flowers below the bird. The 5D3 claims it only uses the helper points if AF can't be achieved with the main point, but AF needs a lot of contrast, and your bird is a bit subtle in that regard. Maybe the selected sensor showed as active but one of the stealthy helper points actually had the last word.

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    Lovely environmental image! As Wendy says... It really says "SPRING!" Really like the comp. Whites look really good... would like to see a bit more detail on the bird. These cuties are dif to photo at any time of the year... and many times they are hiding under the leaves.
    www.mibirdingnetwork.com .... A place for bird and nature lovers in the Great Lakes area.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Tyler Hartje View Post
    Thanks for the feedback everyone! In terms of composition, I wasn't sure how distracting the main branch would be. I thought placing it evenly in the frame with the bird in the left third would work best - I'm glad others think the composition works as well! Diane - it does look like the flowers to the right are sharper. I think I was using the center af point, and the focus-recompose method (using back-button af). I'm still working on my technique, it's all a learning process
    I don't know the 60D but I think it's common that a single focus "point" covers a wider area than indicated by the area that lights up in the viewfinder. Since the flowers just below the bird had more contrast, it's possible that's where the focus hit. I've had similar problems with my 5D3, which has stealthy helper points around the center point, even if I select the smallest point. That's necessary in order to achieve better focus on low-contrast subjects, but it can sometimes lock on an adjacent area without telling you.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Diane Miller View Post
    I don't know the 60D but I think it's common that a single focus "point" covers a wider area than indicated by the area that lights up in the viewfinder. Since the flowers just below the bird had more contrast, it's possible that's where the focus hit. I've had similar problems with my 5D3, which has stealthy helper points around the center point, even if I select the smallest point. That's necessary in order to achieve better focus on low-contrast subjects, but it can sometimes lock on an adjacent area without telling you.
    I have this problem with the 50D also, when I have foreground elements close to the subject, and if the subject is likely to stay in place for a bit, I'll actually use BBF/AI-servo (holding the back button down) and start off subject in a location where I know the camera will focus behind the intended subject. I then move the focus point slowly toward the subject until the focus jumps. Most times this will occur before the red focus point in the viewfinder actually touches the subject. Then either shoot, or release back button, recompose and shoot.

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    The 60D only has the 9-point autofocus system, so I don't have any extra assist points like the 5D and 1D series have (and now the 7Dii). I think you're right Diane about the points being larger than they show. The bird was moving around so fast I don't think I had time to focus on the eye, I just went for anywhere on the bird. That sounds like a good idea Jon, I'll try that next time I'm out.

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