New Wildlife shooter

[phil adair]

I'm just getting started out with Wildlife after having shot sports and racing for a number of years. Out with the 1dm2 in with the 5dm2, I captured this with a Sigma 120-300 exif data below.

I had it mounted on my monopod and was walking out to the end of my dock, He/She was flying overhead so I wasn't able to use the monopod. I'm just starting to get serious about capturing shots of wildlife. I have a Gitzo 1325 cf tripod with a Arca Swiss B1 on it that I will be using more.

I'm wondering if I should have used a higher ISO and a faster shutter speed stopped down a little.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Camera Model	Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Firmware	Firmware Version 2.0.4
Shooting Date/Time	05/08/10 16:37:51
Copyright Notice	Copyright: Shadco Photo 2010
Owner's Name	Phil Adair
Shooting Mode	Aperture-Priority AE
Tv( Shutter Speed )	1/640
Av( Aperture Value )	5.6
Metering Mode	Partial Metering
Exposure Compensation	0
ISO Speed	100
Auto ISO Speed	OFF
Lens	120-300mm
Focal Length	300.0mm
Image Size	5616x3744
Image Quality	RAW
Flash	Off
FE lock	OFF
White Balance Mode	Auto
AF Mode	AI Servo AF
Picture Style	Neutral
Sharpness	0
Contrast	0
Saturation	0
Color tone	0
Color Space	sRGB
Long exposure noise reduction	0:Off
High ISO speed noise reduction	0:Standard
Highlight tone priority	0:Disable
Auto Lighting Optimizer	0:Standard
Peripheral illumination correction	Disable
File Size	21940KB
Dust Delete Data	No
Drive Mode	Continuous shooting
Live View Shooting	OFF
AF Microadjustment	0

[Dave Leroy]

Hi Phil,

I certainly think you are on the right track. Lots of shutter speed for birds in flight (bifs) and dof is the next step.
I like the nice diagonal composition.
Well done.

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Phil Big Warm Welcome !! With your bg will be up to speed for birds in no time !!!


Tech wise would use 400 for my base ISO since you have a good performing camera, would not hesitate to bump it to 1600 if needed !!! Shutter speed wise try to go 1/1600 or over !!

Exposure wise you are shooting the underside of the bird (shaded) so going one over is the norm ... but if its sunny like here you will blow the head ... solution ..softer light !!! As presented you need to clean up the wings by lightening and will introduce noise (even with the 5D) Processing wise would lighten and desaturate the sky some to make it look natural !!

Image is sharp and got a good wing position !! Looking forward to the next one !!!

[Lance Peters]

Hi Phil - big warm welcome to BPN - Dont hesitate to jump right in and leave comments on other peoples images - all we ask is that you say what you like or dont like about the image - no better/faster way to learn.

Nice first post - agree with AL'S advice.
Turn on your over exposure blinkies and make use of your histogram.
Looking forward to seeing more :)

[Dave Mills]

Hi Phil, I too offer a warm welcome!
Excellent advice above and I will add that it's compositionally beneficial to add more space in front of an animal than in the back to give the appearance of room for the subject to move into. IMO the image would work better as a horizontal than a vertical...

[Thanaboon Jearkjirm]

Welcome to BPN,

Bird in flight is not easy and you did well, the bird looks sharp with nice wing spread. Also like the determination looks on the bird. As Alfread mentioned, good light is the key for this image.