Hummer landing

[Wheeler McDougal Jr.]

I took this image about 3:00PM this afternoon in my backyarTd. The camera settings were quite different than I would normally use. The Nikon D5 was in aperture priority mode and with a exposure compensation of +2/3. ISO was set to float so that the shutter speed of 2500 sec at F/5 could be achieved. Metering was spot. White balance was set to daylight. PP was the use of NIK noise reduction plugin using the defaults. Is this image worth keeping and is it a waste of time to try these new settings. I was just experimenting to see if the D5 was cablable of turning out a decent image at high ISO and fairly low light or would it take a person with much better command of PS. Thank for any opinions as it is just what I want. You don't have to be nice about your opinions.

[Richard Smith]

I see a good deal of noise but you might be able to use more noise reduction to clear that up. How high is the ISO? I can get 6400 out of my 7DII (after a bit of work in post) pretty reliably as long as the image is exposed to the right.

It is redundant to set your camera in AV and float the ISO. You have TWO automatic parameters. If you trust your camera (and your processing) at a high ISO, put it in manual and set both the SS and the aperture you want. Then set the ISO to auto. no

I'm not sure this pose works with the white battleground. The poor bird looks like it's desperately trying to hold on to nothing. Some context would help.

[arash_hazeghi]

Hi Wheeler,
If you want my honest opinion this image isn't working for me. I like the dynamic pose but the head angle that's away from the viewer really kills it.

IQ isn't great, the image is very noisy and soft. the hummer is dark and honestly this is not the right settings to get an attractive image of a hummer with the sky BG.


for starters you should be shooting in manual mode not AV with spot meter, in fact that would be the last setting on earth I'd use for a shot like that . my guess is the image was underexposed and the high amount of noise came from lightening it in post. I have never seen a D5 image so noisy.

It seems you have spends thousands of dollars on your gear but I honestly think at this point you really need to take a workshop with someone skilled in the art to get the fundamentals right first and really put that investment into work

[Arthur Morris]

Hi Wheeler, Here is a question to follow up on the points that Arash made: do you have any idea in the world where the spot meter was? I have long advised against the use of spot metering for bird especially when working in any automatic mode and especially when photographing action... Please learn to work in Manual mode. There are lots of great posts on that very subject on my blog. All free. Simply type "Working in Manual Mode" in the little white search box and you will have lots to study.

am

[Wheeler McDougal Jr.]

Hi Wheeler,

I will reply in your pane in color to makes things easier.

re:

Thank you all for your thoughts reguarding this image.

YAW

I agree with you all, but in my own defense I did tell you on the front end of the post that I don't usually shoot using these settings. I normally do shoot in manual mode and matrix metering. The thing I didn't understand that when you float the ISO, the camera really goes into an automatic mode.

As I have said here and elsewhere often working in Manual mode with Auto ISO and an exposure compensation set makes zero sense to me. I do not think that that jibes with what you are saying above but i am mentioning it just in case as it is very important.

I should have known that, but evidently I was suffering from brain fade.

Been there often.

In defense of my use of the spot meter, I am shooting in difficult lighting conditions, it goes from bright sunlight to heavy shade from under trees.

Using spot-metering in rapidly change light can never be an advantage. And it seems that you missed my main point which was :using the spot meter on a small, rapidly moving subject in an automatic exposure mode is lunacy as you have no idea what you will be metering and thus cannot know how to compensate...

I seemed to get better results from the spot than matrix in these but normally do use matrix.

Well, I am confused now too. You should have used matrix metering to come up with a decent exposure (and ISO) and then set that manually. By doing that the size of the bird in the frame and the tonality of the BKGR no longer influence the meter. Yes, if the light changes you need to make changes but that is the same no matter how you are set up. And there are no free rides in those situations, you have to know what you are doing.


Artie, l have shot with you for a day several years ago, and I think that I am aware of how to shoot in manual mode, but what I don't know is how to shoot in aperture priority mode, as I almost never use it.

Then why use it???

Sorry I didn't make that clear in the former post. One thing I am not aware of is a post regarding the best ways to remove noise. If you know of any, please let me know. Thanks again. Mac

Right now both Arash and I use and love NeatImage. You can learn about it by doing a search on my blog. Everything about this great NR program is detailed in the Professional Guide to Post-Processing that I did with Arash. You can find that here.

But do understand that the very best way to combat noise is to learn to expose to the right with at least some data well into the rightmost histogram box....

artaie

[Arthur Morris]

Hey Wheeler, Please seem my comments in Pane #5 above.

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[Wheeler McDougal Jr.]

Artie,
Just for your attention. THe color you chose in pane #5 is almost invisible on my monitor and my Ipad. You might consider using a different color.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Wheeler. Were you able to read it?

aps: It looks fine on Capt James Mark II...

[Wheeler McDougal Jr.]

Yes, just. I order yours and a rash,s book on pp. Hope it is a help that I expect it to be.

[Arthur Morris]

Many thanks. It will only help if you follow the directions carefully. It is fairly high level stuff but it is followable.

a