I know I've done something wrong, I just dont know what it is!

[Mark Young]

This is a picture of a juv White-bellied Sea-eagle. I took this last saturday morning at around 9am. It's my best image of these birds so far, but due to their closeness I was expecting the IQ to be a lot better than what it was.

I was hoping I could get some suggestions on how I can improve how I took this image so next time I can take a much better one.

So far I'm thinking that I could've bumped up the ISO to get a faster SS, which would've helped. And tried to take this in manual mode pushing the histo as far as I could to the right without blowing the whites on the bird. But what I'm not sure off is whether I've used the correct metering mode in this situation.

Canon 400
300F4 L IS + 1.4tc
ISO200
F5.6
1/800
Av mode
Ev metering.

PP: Cropped approx 30%, recovery in RAW to remove small area of hot whites.
SH , levels and H & S adjust. USM on bird and nr on bg.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Hi mate! :)

Tip 1 - up the ISO one stop and gain one stop SS too! You already knew. Surely your camera is fine at 400?
Tip 2 - leave IS on mode 1. I do, as I read that somewhere that it's best to use mode 1 since you don't necessarily pan a perfect straight line so you can compensate in all directions.
Tip 3 - keep panning after the shutter has opened and closed. IOW, follow through with the movement
Tip 4 - keep practicing and you WILL NAIL IT MATE!!!

Still looks good, just a hint of softness probably due to subject movement and nothing else. Happy to listen to other comments. :)

I had the perfect opportunity for a White-faced Heron this morning in great light and I think I've buggered up the lot - though I need to examine the shots still at length. So practice is the key.

See ya!

[Mark Young]

Thanks for the prompt reply Akos.

You mentioned a point I forgot in my post. I had IS on and set to mode 1. The image was also taken hand held.
ISO 400 in good light works fine in my camera. In poor or average light ISO 200 is the best I can do without introducting grain.

Thanks for the tips on follow through. I think sometimes I may press the shutter button and stop moving. I guess in that regards it's just like a playing a cricket stroke, in that you need to follow through to get the line correct.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

If you say cricket again I will slap ya you hear? ;) (kidding).

Follow through I think is important. Are you saying that even if you push the histo right in poorer light there is noise? Heck! There are software to reduce noise and I doubt it would be significant. Personally, if I had to have a little noise or faster shutter speed I'd deal with noise in favor of SS. :)

[Dave Mills]

Hi Mark, good advice by Akos(glad to see you back).
The image does have positive qualities. Good wing spread,light and positioning in the frame.
The most noticeable problem is the soft head.Other areas aren't quite that noticeable...

[Mark Young]

No, what I meant was that if I use ISO400 in poor light I start to get noise. I can use ISO400 when the light is good, but not in overcast conditions or in a poorely lite environment.

[Alfred Forns]

Agree on all points by Akos except the IS !!! .... NEVER use the one setting unless you are moving and the bird stationary !!!

Metering wise I normally do manual, if you had clouds the exposure would be changing as the bg changes but bird is in the same light !! Might want to post the original without work to see if there is anything in the processing !!!

[Dave Leroy]

I like the photo and composition.

I find it hard to shoot birds straight overhead and get any detail. Wings look good and perhaps a bit more contrast and sharpening would help some.

I tried to post a link to a tread in General Photography Discussion started by Lance. It is about an article about use of IS by Thom Hogan. The thread is full of discussions about what settings for IS to use and when.
The answer for Canon seems to be IS Mode 2 unless you are in a moving vehicle and subject is stationary and then Mode 1.

As a follow up to Akos comments about follow through, if you use fast frame shooting then you would also follow through.

[Julie Brown]

Mark, I like the wing position and detail. Very helpful discussion everyone!

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Mark Here is a quick re post, just did a curves adjustment and sharpen the head.

[Lance Peters]

Interesting discussion -- AL'S repost does improve - but still find the head soft.
So maybe the point of focus was not on the head and/or not enough DOF?

[Alfred Forns]

... the head was soft Lance .. body did not look bad !!

[Lance Peters]

... the head was soft Lance .. body did not look bad !!

LOL - its early AL - AND i have not had my coffee yet - grrrrrrrrrrr - LOL :)

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Agree on all points by Akos except the IS !!! .... NEVER use the one setting unless you are moving and the bird stationary !!!

Don't blame me mate! :D :) I am pretty sure I read it in one of the BAA bulletins eons ago. I was also thinking that even though the bird is flying in a fairly straight line, the IS would compensate (or should?) any erratic movement (no matter how small) by the human.

So I ask in this case would you even choose to switch it off if you can have a fast enough shutter speed? Say over 1/1000th? :)

[Alfred Forns]

....... Akos I turn the IS off for flight more often than not..... Even at much lower speeds

[Harold Davis]

great advice above and an interesting read. al's repost is rocking!! nice base image!

[Ian McHenry]

A very educational thread.
At first sight did not notice slightly soft head but Alfred's repost really brings out the definition.
If the image was taken with 400 ISO in Av @ F8.0 this would have given same shutter speed but a bit more DOF
which might have been enough to fully sharpen total image. Me thinks !!!
Cheers: Ian Mc

[Kerry Perkins]

I think Ákos got it right. Looks like motion blur to me too. For my two cents, I would up the ISO to 400, turn off the IS altogether, and get a little bit higher SS (DOF difference of one stop at that distance and aperture is almost nothing). You can use software to lessen noise, but nothing will save you from motion blur after the capture. Practice is the key! This is a very nice capture, just a bit soft.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

....... Akos I turn the IS off for flight more often than not..... Even at much lower speeds

Cool Al, thanks for that. I will try it, hopefully I can find some winter birds to practice on. Will let you know how I go. Thanks for the advice; much appreciated. :)

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Mark

Dave Leroy's referring to this: http://www.bythom.com/nikon-vr.htm

Good read indeed!

[Mark Young]

Thanks everyone for taking the time to view my image and comment.

Alfred, I've attached a JPEG of the original RAW file. No PP done, I've only resize it toe 1000px lengthwise.
Thanks for taking the time to do a repost. I like the extra sharpness and definition of your repost.

Lance, the main point of focus would've been the breast. I think the biggest mistake I did here was that I didn't take the appropriate time to prepare well enough for the image, and the IQ is not as good as I hoped because of that.

Akos, thanks for the link, that was an interesting read. It seems I've been doing the wrong thing by always having IS on even when using a tripod. I'll have to rethink my use of IS now.

And thanks to everyone else for viewing and commenting.

[Paul Randall]

Hey Mark,
Great photo, a real pity about that slightly soft head. I see no one has mentioned the metering mode, I would suggest that CW metering might have yielded a more accurate (and possibly faster) shutter speed.
I would'nt recommend manually exposing flight shots unless you are really sure about what you are doing and the
lighting is constant.:) Reposts are an improvement too