Morning Take Off - I'm new at this

[Tom Patterson]

Critiques appreciated.

I'm just getting into bird photography and this is likely my most dramatic photo to date.

Bald eagles are pretty rare along the Alabama gulf coast so I was fortunate to locate a pair of nesting eagles near my home. Here are the particulars:

Canon 5dMk II with Canon 400mm/5.6L lens plus Canon 1.4 teleconverter
Shot in RAW at 1/800s, f5.6, ISO 100 (trying to use Sunny 16 rule)
Camera mounted on ball head tri-pod on the deck of my pontoon boat. I was about 100 yds from the bird in 3 ft of water and the slight breeze continually rocked the boat gently. Ugggg! Anchor was not much help. :)
About 11 AM with partly cloudy sky
Photo was edited in Photoshop CS5 RAW editor and completed with cropping in PS. Edited to about a 80% crop

This camera is still new to me in the learning curve area. I've read all the raves about how it has so little noise in even high ISO settings but I still see significant noise at 100! I realize that RAW photos show the noise more than jpgs but so far this camera is kicking my butt! Any help appreciated.

[Julie Brown]

Hi Tom. I have the 5D MKII, and it is a great camera for low noise. However, you will always get noise with underexposure and large crops. I also notice here that you have a black bird against a blue sky. I have been wondering myself why these two factors often produce noise, even with images that seem to be properly exposed. There are other members with way more experience than me who can explain this, so I will be looking forward to their comments. The combination of this 400mm lens with a 1.4X TC means that you had no AF. ISO 100, and SS 1/800sec is probably on the low side for BIF shots. This is exciting behavior to have caught, and you did make eye contact. It is just a matter of practice, but you will get better. Keep at it, post often here for lots of good advice, and have fun!

[Roger Clark]

Hello Tom,

First, congratulations on having wonderful birds close to home. I also have a 5D2 and have used it for BIF.

The situation in your photo is a tough one as the sun is high (causes harsh light: directional light resulting in deep shadows). In the photo above, I would have moved to the left to reduce the angle between you and the sun. I like the angle to be about 20 degrees (light coming over one shoulder or the other). Others here on BPN advocate the sun directly behind you. If the sun is high overhead, then I agree the sun is better directly behind you. If the sun is low in the sky, in my opinion, the sun should be to one side over your shoulder for the best image quality.

Your exposure (1/800 s) will be a little long if the flying bird is large in the frame. Regarding noise, relative noise (signal-to-noise ratio) is lowest for all but the shadows at lowest ISO, so your choice of ISO 100 was good for the brighter parts of the image. But the 5DII in particular (and most other models older than the 5DII) suffer from the analog-to-digital (A/D) converter noise and fixed pattern noise in the deep shadows at low ISO. So if your subject has deep shadows where you want to show detail (like your image above), it is actually better to use a higher ISO, even though this is counter intuitive. Newer models, like the 7D and 1D4 do not suffer from this problem as much (but still do at a lower level). The large pixels in the 5DII collect a lot of light so image quality is still great at ISO 200 and 400. Boost ISO as needed if light is lower, as it is best to have noise than blur (unless you are intentionally wanting blur).

So to improve your image above, I would have put the 5DII at ISO 200 or even 400. If you had time before the eagle took off, I would have checked the exposure, set it manually, and set the exposure to give the maximum signal without saturating the whites. This is called expose to the right (ETTR).

Another factor in BIF images is focus tracking. The 5DII will autofocus (AF) only at f/5.6 and faster. So the 400 f/5.6 + 1.4 = f/8 and you lose AF. With the eagle coming at you in your photo, the bird will quickly get out of focus. Put the 5DII in AI servo mode and use one focus point on the head (and if closer, on the eye), and don't go beyond f/5.6. Try to get closer and early or late in the day rather than mid-day.

Good luck,
Roger

[Tom Patterson]

Thanks so much for your comments and suggestions Julie. After reading about converters and the AF limit, I tried the 3 pin taping trick and it does give back AF with this lens combo. I wonder however, if it also might give bad info to the camera as far as metering and such. I shot eagle photos 2 days before this one and used higher SS but was still not pleased with my results. I will keep plugging away and trying suggestions.

[Tom Patterson]

Thanks for the great info Roger. I've got a lot to learn. The photo site actually has a pair of nesting eagles and only accessible by boat. They roost and nest about 10 yds in from the shoreline and I am very concerned about getting too close for fear that they will leave the area. I won't even tell my local friends where they are. :) The location makes it difficult to get the sun at a proper angle but I will try to change the time of day when I visit next.

Interesting about the A/D noise. I thought just the opposite. :) Are you familiar with the pin taping trick for the teleconverter? I tried it and it seems to AF at all settings. I may be fooling myself. :)

I've got so much to learn but it's great to have folks like yourself to provide advice and encouragement.

[Roger Clark]

Interesting about the A/D noise. I thought just the opposite. :) Are you familiar with the pin taping trick for the teleconverter? I tried it and it seems to AF at all settings. I may be fooling myself. :)

Hi Tom,

No, I have never tried the pin taping trick. It may work, but may not always be accurate.

Roger

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Tom,

We have an Education and Tutorial Forum you should visit from time to time,..and welcome aboard my friend.

I like to direct new bird photographers to this thread:
http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...e-photographer

Written by Artie Morris, he is the best in the business. I started by reading, The Art of Bird Photography and Digital Basics, these are great reads and will expedite your journey. Regarding the subject placement, you did well the corner gives the frame balance and the look into the frame is a plus.

Thanks for sharing and keep em coming.

[Tom Patterson]

Thanks Jeff. I'll be sure to check out that link. This place and you folks are a great resource!

Tom

[John Chardine]

Great comments including Roger's- not much to add. Tom- this is a great image especially considering you say you are new at bird photography! I love the layout of the image with the simple but elegant habitat elements.

I think the pin-taping trick works because Canon shuts AF off on it's non-pro bodies at f-stops higher than 5.6. The AF system is capable of working at f8 and the taping trick does not allow the body to detect this information.

[SteveYoung]

Are you familiar with the pin taping trick for the teleconverter? I tried it and it seems to AF at all settings. I may be fooling myself. :)

I have the same lens and TC and I also use the pin taping trick, however I've found that it slows the focus, hunts a whole lot, and seems to mis-focus on low contrast subjects. I find myself removing the TC whenever possible to get sharper shots and quicker focusing.

[Tom Patterson]

Thanks John and Steve. From the comments and more research I've about decided to ditch the taping pins trick in favor of getting sharper images. It just seems to hit and miss as well as overly complicating the settings.