A Little Help

[Mike Fuhr]

I don't get to post many bird shots because I don't have a long lens like many of you all. I took this picture last summer in South Carolina. I went out early but didn't really get anything until later in the morning. However, I left the ISO up at 1000 accidentally. I really like the translucent effect on the wings but the noise bothers me (I also cut the wing off because he was so close -- this was only a 300mm lens -- but that doesn't really other me either). Anyway, just wondering what the suggestions might be to salvage this one, if possible. Thanks in advance.

Nikon D300
100-300 F/4
300mm
1/8000
F/5 (-.67)
ISO 1000

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Mike

The main problem here is not the high ISO but underexposure !!! For a bird flying overhead the compensation should be at lest one plus and probably more. If you look at the histogram with this type exposure the entire sky would be blown out but the bird looking fine.

Here you can run any of the noise programs which will help but the dark areas will look strange when opining up .... plus will increase the noise !!

[Lance Peters]

AL and i have crossed in cyberspace. :)

HI Mike - Shutter speed to burn here - would have swapped some for some more DOF - I would push the whites further to the right - creating a high key image - sky will blow out, but the whites of the bird will be better.
Nose doesnt look that bad - at higher ISO'S your exposure needs to be spot on - otherwise noise does become more evident.
Here I think I would have been at 0ev or maybe even on the plus side a little.

Like the translucent wings - some additional sharpening may help - not crazy about the cut off wing.
Looking forward to more :)

[Mike Fuhr]

Yes -- a lot of ss to spare. I'll need to be prepared next time -- he caught me off guard. I didn't expect much the first time trying to get birds in flight, but I saw the potential in this one. I'll get it next time. Trickier than I would have thought, by the way -- most of the macro stuff I look for moves a lot slower! :)

[Harold Davis]

mike, that lens is perfect for going after those birds. jsut make a trip for them. put yourself in the position where you know they are flying over your head and wait. you will get plenty of shots! techs covered nicely above.

[Desmond Chan]

The sky affected your camera's exposure reading, resulting in the bird under-exposed. But overall, the photo is exposed the way your camera is programed to do. If you correct the under-exposed bird in pp, the noise will show.

I'm with Lance on adjusting the exposure in pp and turning it into a high key shot. It looks quite well, actually, if not because of the cropped wing.


I know people who photo birds using a 70-200 + TC. Not really much better than your situation. I have a lot of photos shooting with a 70-300, too. So if you choose, you can shoot a lot more bird photos with what you have.

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Issue here is shooting against the sky you must add light to off-set meters desire to mid-gray the scene. The -.67 was the wrong direction probably + 1.5 or so look at Digital Basics or APBII to check out exposures on BIF. White subject against white background camera will underexpose. I have used BB to image BIF and set FV at -3 but not at this shutter speed. I noticed you said later in the morning. Given the 1/8000 were you pushing into harsh light time?

I assume the noise comes from adjusting exposure to the right. Tweaking exposure in post production can help salvage a photo but when adding light you introduce noise, just have to play with it and strike best balance.

Also, when photo is underexposed that means light is missing. Hence so is detail and possible sharpness, might not be the one to save, I could be wrong.

[Thanaboon Jearkjirm]

Agree with the exposure advices given above, the wing span would make a very nice hi-key image, I'm not sure but I think with hi-key the translucent wing effect will look even more beautiful. As already said, try to brighten dark area will bring out noise more than darken a light area, but I think you can try to run one more round of NR and see what happen.

The wing got cut off because the bird is too close, so there still good possibilities for shooting birds with this lens.

[Mike Fuhr]

No it wasn't harsh light at all. I started before sunrise and this was probably 1 hour into the day. Plus it was a bit hazy (sun hadn't burned it off yet). I think it was mostly user error/unpreparedness. :)

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

HI Mike

THe guys mentioned some great tips already. I took the liberty to "fix" the cut wing by copying the intact end and flipping it and warping a touch too. On top of the exposure adjustments as mentioned, you can (if your ethics allow) also repair the wing. Hope you are OK with the repost. :)

[Mike Fuhr]

HI Mike

THe guys mentioned some great tips already. I took the liberty to "fix" the cut wing by copying the intact end and flipping it and warping a touch too. On top of the exposure adjustments as mentioned, you can (if your ethics allow) also repair the wing. Hope you are OK with the repost. :)

WOW -- I love the repost. I'm always amazed at what can be done to repair a photo like this! Thanks for taking the time to play with the shot. And thanks to everyone else for the comments -- I learned a lot. I look forward to getting back out and trying to nail some shots of BIF.