How do I get the whole bird in focus? Being rather new at this, I gave myself a challenge. Out by the local Lowes, there is a field of yellow mustard plants which seems to attract Red...

Twin 1 Loc: Nor California

Being rather new at this, I gave myself a challenge. Out by the local Lowes, there is a field of yellow mustard plants which seems to attract Red Wing Black Birds. I decided to try and get a picture of a blackbird in that field of yellow. Between the wind blowing the plants and the birds refusing to come anywhere close, it took three visits before I got any bird close enough and to stay long enough before I got a chance at any decent shots but even these don't show the sharpness I was aiming for.

-Canon D7, 70-200 w/1.4 ext.
I did run the lens out to the max because most birds were some distance away.
I used a tripod and remote switch.
This time I decided to let the camera make all of the decisions so everything was on Auto.
I did not do the mirror lockup.

I tried to use Live View for sharp focus but at that distance, I had a devil of a time keeping the bird in the frame as I tried to use the tripod.

What do I do the next time to improve on these shots?

Ched49 Loc: Pittsburgh, Pa.

I think the shot's are ok, you just happened to be too far away to notice any detail.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

The field of yellow makes a lovely setting. The second one, downloaded and zoomed in, seems to have enough detail so you could crop it and enjoy the result. As cjkorb says, you are trying to get small subjects at distances far too great for your lens. I feel your pain as I have a 55-250. Close-ups of flowers produce crisp, colorful results, with great blurred background. Attempting an eagle in a tree hundreds of feet away...not so much!

ecobin Loc: Paoli, PA

You need a greater depth of field - to do that use an aperture of f/8 or smaller. You can get a depth of field calculator for your smart phone and learn how to adjust your aperture depending on the focal length of the lens, and the distance to subject. It also varies by the camera's sensor size. I use F-Stop app (free) on my iPhone and it allows you to key in your specific camera.
For example, I set it for your 7D with 200mm lens at 20ft from the bird, and an aperture of f/5.6 only gives you sharpness of 4"" in front and behind your focal point. At f/8 the sharpness increases to 5.4" in front & behind. And at f/16 it is 10" in front and 11" behind. Increase the distance to the subject also increases the depth of field but then the subject is smaller. Lots to consider. In general, for photographing birds you'll need a much longer telephoto lens. I use the Sigma 150-500mm and sometimes that's not enough.
Get the phone app and play with it.

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

I think you need either a longer lens or get closer. There is a general "consensus" that a 600mm lens is needed for serious birding. I'll download and play with your image with your permission.

Twin 1 Loc: Nor California

Linda From Maine wrote:

The field of yellow makes a lovely setting. The second one, downloaded and zoomed in, seems to have enough detail so you could crop it and enjoy the result. As cjkorb says, you are trying to get small subjects at distances far too great for your lens. I feel your pain as I have a 55-250. Close-ups of flowers produce crisp, colorful results, with great blurred background. Attempting an eagle in a tree hundreds of feet away...not so much!

Thanks, I didn't bother to crop any of them yet but I may. I think I have spent this year's camera budget already and we have 3/4 of the year to go. A longer lens may be in the future but not this year, I suspect.

gdwsr Loc: Northern California

Twin 1 wrote:

What do I do the next time to improve on these shots?

Looking at your second photo full scale, I don't see a problem with focus. Exposure in the blacks was a bit of a problem. Not much you could do about it in-camera. The histogram was as far right (to the light side) as possible without clipping the highlights. That is good. I just did a quick job of opening the shadows in Aperture and you can better see the details in your bird.

Hope that helps. My advice for shooting under that situation is to take a lot of shots to increase your odds of getting the birds in focus.

JR1 Loc: Tavistock, Devon, UK

As above, I use Sigmas... 120-400 and 150-500

Twin 1 Loc: Nor California

LoneRangeFinder wrote:

I think you need either a longer lens or get closer. There is a general "consensus" that a 600mm lens is needed for serious birding. I'll download and play with your image with your permission.

No problem. Please give it a shot.

Twin 1 Loc: Nor California

gdwsr wrote:

Looking at your second photo full scale, I don't s... (show quote)

Thank you for doing this, that answers the real question that was probably nagging me. I assumed the lens was good and the camera was good, both are quality products but I might have gotten one that is the exception. This at least tells me to trust the camera and lens and work on the operator side of the equation.

gdwsr Loc: Northern California

Oh, I meant to mention, on these kind of shots you might consider shooting in RAW so jpeg doesn't compress the blacks into mud. It worked out ok but normally you would want all the information in those shadows you can get to post-process with.

BTW, like your Chesterton qoute.

Twin 1 Loc: Nor California

gdwsr wrote:

Oh, I meant to mention, on these kind of shots you might consider shooting in RAW so jpeg doesn't compress the blacks into mud. It worked out ok but normally you would want all the information in those shadows you can get to post-process with.

BTW, like your Chesterton qoute.

Actually, I do have them in RAW, I just haven't gotten to that place where I can learn the many ins and outs of post processing. This might just give me a boost in that direction. I am sitting on Elements and Lightroom might be in the future.

(I collected that quote as I was refereeing soccer. It neatly reflected my talents. I worked plenty of games, even a few D-1 colleges but I was never going to hit the top. I just kept plugging at it. Now with age and pride keeping me from embarrassing myself on the field after 40 years, I am onto an old hobby I dropped in the 60's. The same quote is apt.)

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

Twin 1 wrote:

No problem. Please give it a shot.

* Didn't work.

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

LoneRangeFinder wrote:

* Didn't work.

Second try...

Twin 1 Loc: Nor California

LoneRangeFinder wrote:

Second try...

Thank you for taking time to do this.