Immature Dabchick diving(little grebe uk....Tachybaptus ruficollis)

[Stuart Philpott]

It's sort of strange posting an image of a bird I have tried to get close to so many times and failed, without a head,what can I say but please forgive,i'll include a head soon

I am compromised here in my pov, i'm shooting from a man mad hide ,which is completely alien to me. A friend gave me a heads up on a stunning nature reserve near to me that somehow I've never found,they have just built a new hide. I think my mate saw the glint in my eye when he said ahh dabchick they are almost swimming under your feet and the water is so clear,you can actually see them hunting. I went home with just a glimpse of a young barn owl dreaming of the next day...looked up the weather and just 3mph of windspeed for last sunday. I went to sleep dreaming of a mill pond stunning reflections and a little grebe very close,ohh I know ,but if at this stage I haven't got ability,I can still have my passion and sheer joy in trying to photograph nature. The rest will come one day huh, if I keep going it has too(that's what I tell myself anyway)

We got up and did all our chores found the reserve and finally the hide,grebes were present but too far for anything meaningful with my 300f2.8is and 1.4 extiii attached. I felt like a fish out of water,I'd rarely shot in hides and was so high up didn't really know how to deal with the water and reflections,so set about shooting bland images and trying to get my head around the histogramme. I guess an hour on and a young little grebe came over and just as promised started hunting,she did things i've never seen like catching damsel and dragonflies we watched her hunt under water just like my mate told me,and duley I took pictures. She stayed with us for hours The naturalist in me learnt and looked hard, the photographer tried to be better but pretty much all the time I just shared this huge smile with my lass,it was utterly enchanting and joyous. I just wish I could have been lower, all but in the water.

So here is my little friend, bless her, with no head what a joy spending time with her!! A slight crop for comp, canon 1Div 1/1600 f5.6 iso 1250 processed in canon DPP4 my computer can't cope with PS yet so here we are stuck ,but not done. My son bless him gave me a new monitor I feel I can see more now, but worry on colour a little. So if things are out of kilter please tell me there are no funds for calibration tools or much of anything really But this joy I experience with nature has to be shared one day that will be in a picture,that is what I strive for.

Cheers for the huge help BPN and it's members have given me the kindness the honest comments all of it.
take care all

Stu

[Tim Foltz]

Stu, Nice behavioral shot of this little grebe diving. Nice and sharp with good shutter speed.
The image is a little on the blue so I would warm up your white balance a bit and
maybe a little curves adjustment to make the image pop a bit.

-Tim

[Bob Miller]

Stu... I Like the moment you caught. yes, a fraction of a second sooner would have given you the head but it still is a good shot. Keep trying! And keep them coming! I do agree you should try warming it up just a bit in processing

[Stuart Philpott]

Tim Bob thanks so much for your thoughts, i'm very grateful.

Bob this is actually pretty close to what I wanted, as one needs her head just submerged for the splash..It is possible that my meanderings didn't translate too well,that is my fault buddy. I'm not the most eloquent guy. In part it's that drier than the Sahara sense of humour we brits are sometimes noted for, I think that has come out here,my apologies. i'm one of those guys always looking to make folks smile and smile much myself but at the same time incredibly serious about trying to be good at this,please forgive.

Their dive is very shallow Bob,i've taken versions of this image several times now(this is by far my best effort,'erm well I think so at this time). I always seem to end up with an almost two stage dive this and the bottoms up shot as I refer to it how ever I approach this one. Bob she really taught me alot during our time together,I was with a very learned man in the hide for a while I think I know whom he is if i'm right he has gained an OBE for services to nature in this country of mine.there was much wisdom in his words. I said to him look how they are using the air caught in their feathers I had never spotted this before and was wowed by it. Bob they squash the air out just before a dive. The gentleman replied oh yes so they do i've never noticed this either,which surprised me ,I think it was him that got this hide built. So a little tip to share with another watch those feathers compress from front to back and you'll maybe have a chance on being ready for a dive rather than guessing it as I have always done in the past Ahh the joys of looking hard.


Anyway, guys,i've raised my midpoint in the gamma function in DPP slightly and adjusted WB via colour temp rather than eyedropper to 5500K how does this look? I oft over do warmth so maybe was being too cautious here??


I hope this works

take care both and thanks again

Stu

[Arthur Morris]

While the repost is a big improvement and the water is great and so was your timing, the bird is just not sharp; it is lacking fine feather detail and is very noisy. Was the image originally underexposed/ how big a crop?

a

[Stuart Philpott]

While the repost is a big improvement and the water is great and so was your timing, the bird is just not sharp; it is lacking fine feather detail and is very noisy. Was the image originally underexposed/ how big a crop?

a

Hi artie,thank you so much for your interest and wisdom,how are you good sir??

YAW. I am fine thanks and hope that you are even better. For clarity, I am answering here in bright aqua.

artie, I don't think underexposed originally,the bulk of the histogramme in the rh box ( the full sized one not the smaller at far right),there are some blinkies in the water droplets which are not showing in my dpp RH box. I haven't raised exposure at all. I think it is good artie it is what I understand as exposed to the right, at this time. I don't think I could have pushed it further,but am VERY open to your advice

What you are describing sounds pretty darned good. I asked to try to get to the bottom of the softness, lack of FFD, and noise issues :)

Crop I don't know how to give you exact details as of yet but around 75 of the original is presented as the jpeg.

That is not too big of a crop and should not cause any problems with a sharp image.

To add to this as it might help : focus point (center point) is just touching the top of the highest point on the grebe's back a bit to the right of the water droplet . artie I have been switching back and forth between single point and surround (expansion) of late dependent on circumstances ie cfniii 8 But again I am unsure how to tell you which mode I took this particular image in.

If you open the image in DPP 4 you can figure it out but it is not a big deal.

i've included this basically so you might be able to rule out missed focus as a cause of lack of sharpness. Sorry I can't be more precise I really have much to learn.

Ah, you have tons to learn. Just because the AF point is on the subject does not mean that the AF is tracking properly. I just did a big blog post on that very subject that folks have been raving about. You can study it here. You should subscribe! It is called "A Primer on the Many Causes of Unsharp Images." It should be required reading :)

The shot is HH but using the hide window ledge as a rest most likely in this instance in case this might be a technique issue.

That is tough to do. Try resting the back of your left hand on the ledge and then supporting the lens with that hand. It gives you much more control. In either case, make sure that you or the ledge are not touching the focusing ring as that can throw off focus... I left that one out of my article :)

artie I must emphasise my lack of familiarity with shooting over water at this elevated angle,I was very unsure on exposures and took time taking snaps and looking at the back of the camera trying to get things dialed in , before this. I had previous comments from you ringing in my ears about watching for blinkies while shooting a coot later in the day,they were a great help.

Good With coots in the sun you can stand a very few blinkies on the bill.

Again artie, thank you for your time you are very busy and it is greatly appreciated . I hope this helps

take care, Stu

Me too. And again, you are most welcome.

a

[Arthur Morris]

One last thought. When birds like this are diving they are really moving fast. I recall making some at at 1/2500 sec. with lots of motion blur, especially the head...

a

[Stuart Philpott]

artie,sorry for my slow reply i've little time but have read your blog post linked, at least twice (probably more,there is much to dijest in it) which is very good and hugely informative and also been out grabbing more practice. I always look to me being the weak link artie my gear is sound I know that,proven if you like by the more accomplished guy I bought off,so yes the first place I always look is in the mirror.

artie ,my description is poor of my handholding technique,I do shoot with my hand underneath the lens in hides while using the window ledge as a rest....almost as I would if handholding normally,the words on not touching the focus ring are important though to someone like me and I thank you for that aswell.
artie one thing that I haven't found here yet,which could well be my fault,is a basic guideline for shutterspeeds,when photographing different birds in different situations,sort of a beginners guide to shutterspeeds,giving ballparks for us newer folks to work off. This was actually prompted by your last words of wisdom in the latter post.which also begs a simple question relating to this particular image what shutter speed would you recommend artie,as a base to freeze motion in this instance?

Again cheers so much for spending your valuable time helping me he he i'd have said tonnes and tonnes to learn and wish I could apply my self more than I a able too at this time. Good things are worth grafting for though artie, they aren't meant to be easy so hopefully my skills will improve with time and effort on my part

take care

stu

[Arthur Morris]

artie,sorry for my slow reply i've little time but have read your blog post linked, at least twice (probably more,there is much to dijest in it) which is very good and hugely informative and also been out grabbing more practice. I always look to me being the weak link artie my gear is sound I know that,proven if you like by the more accomplished guy I bought off,so yes the first place I always look is in the mirror.

artie ,my description is poor of my handholding technique,I do shoot with my hand underneath the lens in hides while using the window ledge as a rest....almost as I would if handholding normally,the words on not touching the focus ring are important though to someone like me and I thank you for that aswell.
artie one thing that I haven't found here yet,which could well be my fault,is a basic guideline for shutterspeeds,when photographing different birds in different situations,sort of a beginners guide to shutterspeeds,giving ballparks for us newer folks to work off. This was actually prompted by your last words of wisdom in the latter post.which also begs a simple question relating to this particular image what shutter speed would you recommend artie,as a base to freeze motion in this instance?

Again cheers so much for spending your valuable time helping me he he i'd have said tonnes and tonnes to learn and wish I could apply my self more than I a able too at this time. Good things are worth grafting for though artie, they aren't meant to be easy so hopefully my skills will improve with time and effort on my part

take care

stu

You are most welcome. I'd try to get to 1/4000 sec. if I wanted it sharp but don't be surprised by some motion blur even at 1/4000 sec. or highr!

a