Hi. This is a spoonbill in flight taken a few weeks ago at Quintana Texas. 500mm, F6.3, IS0 200, 1/1600 sec, hand held. RAW format. I was wondering how the image could be improved by post processing, if the crop was too severe, and a maybe a few basic rules of good flight pictures against a clear sky. Thanks~onlybill
Last edited by WIlliam Maroldo; 05-30-2008 at 11:32 PM.
Welcome to BPN! You have a nice image here. I can only suggest next time maybe some fill flash to help brighten the bird up a bit. For now here is a very quick fix, less than a couple minutes spent in Photoshop;
All I did ws a quick levels and some Noise Ninja. Then a little unsharp mask at 200, 0.2, 0.
The steps like I said took about 2 minutes. You could probably do better if you wanted yourself by spending a little more time brightening the bird!
Keep up the good work!!!
Last edited by George DeCamp; 05-31-2008 at 07:41 AM.
In your tech info the compensation was not listed but the image seems underexposed. If it was in full sun the exp corresponds to 1/3 over which would have been marginal for this situation. If there was some overcast which seems to be the case then it was way under.
When photographing birds from below you are shooting the shaded side so more light is needed. Here is were soft light comes in .... if the sun is bright you will burn the top side which is usually the head !!!
I like the wing spread but sure wish the image could have been made a little sooner since the bird is past your point !!! Good sharpness and detail !!!
Big welcome to the BPN family Bill,
I like your capture. No nits from me due to the fact that all of the techs. have been addressed...:D
Nice repost Mr. George...:)
Once again; welcome Bill..keep them coming...:cool:
I appreciate the comments. As a matter of fact there is a pretty strong tie in with how I found your incredible website in the first place. I had realized for a while that use of a fill-flash of some sort would be necessary for me to get to the next level in bird photography. I posted a question on Birdforum.net, where I've been posting images for a few months, in which I asked for some basic info on flash units and how to use them in bird photography. It was strongly suggested by another member to come here to BirdPhotographers. I'm glad I did. At birdForum, though I like the compliments and such about my images, it isn't really set up to help in advancing photographic skills, and what I really needed was criticizm and guidance. And I was lucky enough to find you guys.
So, back to the spoonbill photo. Yes, it was slightly overcast. I agree the image is underexposed, and I should have used exposure compensation on the + side. I also could have lightened the image before posting it, as George did. Thanks George. Here is one reason I didn't. I need a little guidance here as well. Not necessarily in this particular photo, but in general. I'm sure that the exposure problems could have been rectified by a fill flash, which I don't have, and there are problems with post-processing such a subject as in the photo here to a correct exposure. The result can be the background, sky in this case, becomes too bright.
Also, as is often the case with birds in flight, especially when there is only one bird, as in this case, often there is precious little time to adjust correctly.
For example, just prior to sighting this bird, I had my autofocus on auto (on a Sony A-700) and my attention on
wading birds. I saw the spoonbill out of the corner of my eye, switched the AF to continuous, checked the shutter speed (shooting in shutter speed priority), got one or two shoots off, and it was over. On the other hand, if I was specifically shooting bird in flight, I would consider exposure compensation. Not only for the bottom of a bird that is shaded, but taking into account the color of the bird as well. For example Great Egrets need decreased exposure to keep from washing out all detail on the sunlight side of the bird, or a dark bird, like a white-face ibis, where the opposite is true. To be honest on the white egrets, I often just crank up the shutter speed. Probably a bad habit.
Interesting Albert, I hadn't thought about the image might have been better if taken sooner in the birds flight trajectory. I agree. The several suggestions on unsharp mask will prove to be invaluable, I'm sure. I've heard Noise Ninja mentioned several times. I'll have to check it out.
One more thing about where I'm coming from. Amateur Photographer for 20-30 years. Digital photography, close to two years. Bird photography specifically, 1 1/2 years. First year of this, getting a handle on bird identification, behavior, habitat, locations and time of year bird present, all necessary as a foundation for bird photography(in my opinion). Last 35mm camera: Minolta Maxuum7. First digital: Sony A-100. Got interested in bird photography, purchased a Tamron 200-500mm. Second digital cam. Sony A-700. I've had it for a few months, and hands down it is an excellent camera. My dilemma: Sony doesn't make anything above 300mm. Old Minolta AF Prime lenses (compatible with Sony dslrs); it is very hard to find someone who wants to depart with them. I was forced to use the Tamron 200-500mm, or Sigma. I felt the Tamron was better. About the Tamron; very little chromal aberation; sharpness; a problem at 500mm. Conclusions, besides improving technique and post-processing skill, I need a better lens, ideally 500mm f4. Also I need fill-flash capability.
Availability of flash units capable of use in bird photography with Sony dslrs? I don't know.
I'm afraid that all problems could be solved by switching to Canon, which I can't really afford at the present time.
spoonbill in flight
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