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I've never dared to post on this topic as I don't own anything longer than a 70-200 f/4 IS L-lens. In fact, this photo was taken at a focal length of only 10mm (16mm FF equivalent on my Canon 7D). I was shooting sunset and these two geese happened to stop by to give my scene a subject.
EF-S 10-22mm at 10mm, f/22, 1/2 sec, ISO 100, EV 0
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JJ ... looking at the before and after shots of this Ibis I believe you have a noise problem for two reasons :
1. The left side of the bird is in shadow and therefore underexposed ... when you pushed shadow / highlights you went a bit too far thus revealing the noise more. As you mentioned fill flash may have helped or if you could have moved to your right so the sun was behind you.
2. You made a pretty big crop which can also intensify any noise that may be present.
Probably with this particular image you would just have to leave the shadow alone pretty much and concentrate on the head / eye which look to be in focus, also the open beak adds interest to the shot.
erno, this is a nice sun set shot and also a nice bird shot!
I am always dreaming about getting this type of bird shots since the
place I often go to shoot birds is surrounded by hills and close pretty
early often before sun setting.
Quote:
Originally Posted by erno james
please
don't say that, this thread is not the club just for super tele lenses,
anybody can post their bird shot here no matter what lenses they use,
birds pictures taken with shorter lenses has different taste than the
shots taken with long lenses, and I really enjoy watching them.
thanks for sharing!
Joel, thanks for your comments
I think I agree with you that I should have just left the shadow as is or just lightened it up a little bit, but I liked the color and details of it's feather so much so I couldn't resist to lightened it up a lot more despite the noise[:D]. this bird is amazing! when looked at it with my own eyes, it's just a darker bird almost like a black bird, but the camera sees it differently and showed us so much color and details!
I guess it's the time to learn flash[:S], I'v bought the flash X-Tender, hopefully it won't give me too much headache like the photoshop did.
JJphoto .... I would suggest starting with fill flash 2 possible ways :
1. set the flash to ETTL at -3 stops if you are in AV or TV mode
2. set the flash to manual 1/8 output and adjust exposure as needed in manual mode
these are basic starting points and you may need more or less flash for a specific shot, also remember to set the flash to high speed sync. and when using the better beamer set the zoom on the flash to 50 mm.
Joel
thank you so much for those tips, Joel, I
Northern Cardinal in my backyard
1DMKIII
300mm 2.8L + 1.4TC II
Manual exposure
Fill flash with 580EXII at 1/8 output manual
1/500
f/4.5
iso 1000
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Joel--Great photo. Honestly, that is ranking up there with my favorites.
If you don
Thanks for the kind words Kayaker72,
I am sitting in a camoflage blind approximately 12 to 15 feet away from the perches that I set up. Sometimes I move them closer but .... the closer you get the more difficult it is to get an image without making the birds fly away. At 15 feet I have to crop a little most of the time but I get more images to chose from. With the 300 mm lens and the 1.4 extender if I get close enough to fill the frame with a bird it ends up being so close that you cannot move at all or the birds will flee. Most of the time they seem almost to ignore sound but any un-natural movement really makes them jump into the air. So if you are really close and you reach for the shutter or move the camera slightly .... they are gone. So about 15 feet works pretty well .... I can get by with a slight crop on medium size birds.
I would like to be farther back but will have wait until I can afford bigger glass. (I can hear the new version of the 600mm f4 calling my name)!
Joel
I like to follow this thread because the shots are always stunning and inspirational. Today I was lucky to get a photo of a Northern Pygmy Owl, a rare bird in Alberta.
Canon 5D2, 300 mm f/2.8 lens with 1.4 II TC, 1/800 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 200
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Beautiful shot Jon. I actually like the framing in this shot. I
Thanks, Ben! This is already cropped pretty severely, so I didn
every time I go out shoot, I hope I can get a picture of a owl, but it hasn't happen yet. thanks for sharing Jon!
here is a recent one of mine
7D, 700mm 5.6, f5.6, 1/2000, ISO640
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Joel Eade
yes, i already feel that 500mm is not long enough, that sounds exciting! you can use the 2XTC and still auto focus on your 1D III, that's 1560mm!
Looking for some critiques here as this is my first usable BIF shot..
I went to primarily take pictures of the bald eagles.. The Farmington Bay Waterfowl area gets nearly 400 of them some years! But walked away from this first shoot there with this being one of my favorites. (lens wasn't nearly long enough for the eagles. I got some good shots but had to crop so heavily that a lot of detail was lost..)
I believe that this is a Sharpshinned Hawk. I could be wrong about that..
A little soft and my settings weren't ideal, but I wasn't prepared for that. I was shooting something else entirely when I saw him about to fly by. Pretty proud I was able to focus and grab a couple shots that quickly.
Very minimal cropping here. Mostly just to take some of the frame away from the bottom left corner. I didn't want to crop too much because it's already a bit soft..
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Canon EOS 7D --Tamron AF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 SP Di VC USD XLD -- 1/400 sec, ISO -160 f/8 300mm, Handheld
Here's a small article about the Farmington Bay Water Fowl Management Area for anyone that's interested..
http://birding.about.com/od/birdingtravel/gr/The-Great-Salt-Lake-Nature-Center-At-Farmington-Bay-Waterfowl-Management-Area.htm
<h4>AND here's a link to the most AMAZING bald eagle picture I've seen come from that area.. worth looking at! DO IT! [:D]</h4>
http://www.naturescapes.net/iow/2008/2008BD_RP.htm
Hi! Rocco
I like the pose of the bird.this picture does look soft, it could be the slower shutter speed, or simply the lens, and it seems underexposed.
I know you are getting the 400mm 5.6, I would chooe that one too in that price range.I
Yeah.. the lighting was HORRIBLE. Completely overcast and just unpleasant. I hope to get the new lens before the Eagles leave. [:D]
Also worth mentioning I guess.. this is shot through a windshield as well. ha! Hows that for a piece of glass? lol
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Oh wow Adrian! Wonderful colours and composition. Fantastic.
Still suffering through an unusually snowy winter here in Kentucky, not as bad as our friends in Wisconsin however. Took this from my kitchen window yesterday....
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Joel Eade
Joel
We have record snow fall here as well. Seems like a big portion of the country is getting it.
Nice Cardinal ....it has me wondering. It looks like you used a fill flash, maybe not. If I had tried that I would have ended up with a big flash relfection off the window.
Rick
bird in snowing is always a dream for a southern Californian like me, beautiful shot, Joel!
I did use my 580EX II set to ETTL -1 2/3 stops and the better beamer ..... I opened the window and there is no screen.
These branches are right above my feeders so it I didn
Wonderful shot Joel! The colors are nice and vibrant and the copostion is great.
Keep up the great work,
John.
got it today, I got really close to the bird.
7D, 700mm 5.6, f6.3,1/1600,ISO800
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JJ,
Really nice shot (Coopers Hawk I guess?) ... very sharp and really nice pose / head angle ... look a little too saturated to me especially the yellows.
Very cool to get close to any raptor!
This is a bird that seldom comes out of the brush for a chance at a clear picture ... the Eastern Towhee .. the severe weather has caused even these stout hearted birds to come to the feeders
1DMKIII
300mm 2.8L + 1.4 TC II
Manual exposure
580EXII + better beamer ETTL -1 2/3 stops
1/1000
f/5.6
iso 800
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Hi JJ,
I really like this one, but I think the sharpening is a little too strong. A heavy crop? I like the colors. I think you could pull the highlights a little bit in levels/tone curve.
Nice one overall,
John.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joel Eade
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fast Glass
thanks guys for the comments! I was trying to offset some IQ loss of the picture post it here, I guess I overdid it for both sharpness and color[:O] I only cropped it a bit John, I got pretty close to this guy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fast Glass
I don't really get that John, are you saying it's a little underexposed on the highlights? or overexposed?
So, a few GBHs flew by while I was shooting eagles. We also had a seal sunning itself on a rock and a few ducks. A good morning [:D]
Both-Canon 7D, 100-400L @ 400mm, 1/1250, f/5.6 ISO 400
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Thats funny Kayaker, I was uploading these as you posted yours. I have about the same story. Small lake here has an eagle nest on it and the lake is frozen. He kept landing about 400 yards away on the ice and I never got a decent shot.
I was also trying out the new 1.4x III. Not to sure it was performing better than the old yet as a lot of pics weren't to sharp. I need to try it again.
But I did this guy F5.6 , 1/1600, ISO250
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F5.6, 1/1600, ISO320
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Shooting BIF is so much fun, isn't it? it's like hunting without killing it! Nice GBHs in flight, guys!
BTW, did you use your 1D IV, Rick?
Didn't see any herons today, but ring-billed gulls were abundant as always. This was probably my best from the day.
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Canon 40D, 70-200mm (@200mm, f4, 1/8000s, iso 1600). I know, I know, why such a high iso? I was tracking a Hairy Woodpecker in the woods and there was no lighting. As I walked out of the woods this gull flew right over my head. I can't believe the picture came out as all, as I didn't have any time to play with settings. Fortunately, I had the camera on aperture priority mode.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JJphoto
Thanks, and yes I did, with the 500mm F4L and the new 1.4x III. Not to sure about the new 1.4x yet, I thought I should have gotten more keepers today.
JJ,
To pull an image is to make it darker, to push an image is to make it brighter. The highlights are a little bit overexposed and could be made darker, but not to much.
Here I did it for you. The Jpegdosen't have very much head roomso DXO had a hard time pulling them down.
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I also got rid of the yellow cast Joel was taking about in HLS. Overal I tried to maintian the same saturation level.
John.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JJphoto
LOL! Perfect comparison! The bird shots of late have been so absolutely awesome that I'm alittle intimdated to post! Great job guys!!
Before today, I haven't seen a bird in quite awhile & today I finally saw a few flying around my backyard! I thought I would try my EF 1.4x II on my 100-400mm and see how good my manual focusing skills were.
Not great but better than I thought they'd turn out!
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4149/...0aa342a6_z.jpg
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5018/...977464cc_z.jpg
Denise
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fast Glass
I see, thanks John.
I also removed a branch which blocked the bird, and I think I should have removed more branches to make this shot look better.
A few shots from todays outing at the Bosque Del Apache:
Red Tail Hawk 1/1000, 5.6, ISO 100, 7D, 100-400L @400
http://rwilliamsimaging.com/img/s3/v23/p781981913-4.jpg
Great Blue Heron (and Carp) 1/640 f5.6, iso 640 7D, 100-400L @ 400
http://rwilliamsimaging.com/img/s3/v25/p875457063-5.jpg
Another Red Tail (I think---but this is a dark morph verison) just guessing based on on my bird book
1/1250 f5.6, iso 320 7D, 100-400L @ 400
http://rwilliamsimaging.com/img/s1/v...03934691-4.jpg
Not a bird, but I do have to throw this one in---
This is one of the ponds at the Bosque with about 2 inches of ice, fairly rare around here.
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Denise, Love your little bird shots----I really like these sorts of shots because it looks like the bird is in its natural habitat. Unfortunately, all of mine end up with a stick going through or in front of the bird.
Nice Job,
Bob
JJ, Any clue what raptor this is---Maybe a red-shouldered hawk? but he looks a little small and a little too much white on him---I have been working on my bird ID, but some how, the birds never look exacly like like the pictures in the book.
Nice shot,
Bob
Denise, love the house finch pics, good job with manual focus.
Bob, cool in flight shot of the red tailed hawk.
Our weather has finally improved ... 56 degrees and sunny today ... the snow is melting away quickly.
Here's a bright little Goldfinch to celebrate a brief preview of spring.
1DMKIII 300mm 2.8L +1.4TC ISO 1000 1/250 f/7.1 no flash
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