This small, slim, sleek Juvenile Kestrel was sitting motionless in a small tree overlooking a field keenly looking for any movement. As he left his perch, he momentairly hovered like a hummingbird (wished I could have gotten that shot) and flew away. It was a pleasure to witness and photograph one of Mother Nature's finest flying machines.
Nikon D300, 550 mm, ISO 200, A mode, f/8, 1/400s
Thanks for looking,
Tom
Last edited by Doug Brown; 03-16-2010 at 09:57 PM.
Hello Thomas. The head angle is good here but the focus appears to be on the lower wing and not at the crucial eye area. Wish the crop was looser and that your signature was not so overwhelming. The oof sticks in front of the bird are somewhat distracting. but I am glad to see that they clear the head area.
Hi Tom, agree with Amy..good points she made. Soft focus, could be camera shake, at 550mm, shutter speed 1/400 a bit on the low side, if you handhold. I started here 2 years ago and am always learning something new. Thanks for sharing
My camera was not mounted on a tripod and could be camera shake as you suggest. There is a need for speed and I need to work on that. I now wonder if my lens might possibly be front focusing.
What is the best way to determine/test if a lens is front focusing? Is there a best method?
I have to believe that soft focus is due to slow shutter speed. A rule of thumb I have heard is to shoot a shutter speed at least equal to your lens. Here -- the lens is 550mm with a shutter speed of 1/400 and hand held -- so the results may be as good as expected
A couple of suggestions on the technical side !! Not much need to stop down to f 8.0 and would use a higher ISO. Don't think I ever go down to 200 except for special effects. Your camera performs great noise wise and would not hesitate going to 800 and more if you need.
Light wise you want the sun at your back so the entire bird is lit up evenly, have strong shadow on the left side and the head is sort of dark, can improve some in PS but turns the shadows into a mush looking color
Focusing wise it is on the wing as Amy noted, not front focus. Best to use a single point on the head and re compose.
oof twigs in front of the bird usually catch your attention and don't help much, best to avoid if possible. Crank up that ISO for your shutter speed and looking forward to the next one ... btw probably the best way to get sharp pictures is using a tripod !!!
What f stop would you suggest? I have used ISO 200 to avoid noise but can certainly crank it up.
I was hoping to have the sun at my back but the 'posted sign' prevented me from doing so. :)
I tried to focus on the eye. It was horizontally okay but it a bit to the right according to Capture NX softward. Another picture was not far from the eye but the wing appeared the most in focus thus the question about front focusing (picture is cropped).
Thanks for taking the time to critique and offer suggestions, :)
Tom
Sorry I'm late getting back to this post !! Noise wise your D300 performs very well and would use 400 as your base ISO. Will not have much problem to 800 "if you expose properly" .. any under exposure will bring out the noise even at 200 !!! Remember noisy image will beat a soft image every day and noise can be dealt with in PS !!
With back lit or side lit you will need to have enough exposure for the shaded side ... sometimes that will case problems on the lit up side but it is what it is !! Get on sun angle when you can and shoot in soft light !!!
btw just for reference I have been trying to get my shutter is up for flight since getting the MK4 with its good ISO performance. I have been comparing images at 1/1000 to 1/1600 then comparing to other over those speed and seems to be a difference !!
Juvenile Merlin
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