First attempt at small Birds: First attempt at small bird shot at the feeding station in Pennington Flash Country Park It was horedously windy - this is a relativly shaded spot Camera...

Karl P Loc: Leigh NW UK

First attempt at small bird shot at the feeding station in Pennington Flash Country Park

It was horedously windy - this is a relativly shaded spot

Camera was set in shutter speed ont he main and at a legnth of 200 - 250mm

C&C please especially on focus and composition

Thanks in advance

Bird 1

Bird 2

Bird 3

angler Loc: StHelens England

I think you've done great for a first time Karl ,i really like the robin.

Karl P Loc: Leigh NW UK

angler wrote:

I think you've done great for a first time Karl ,i really like the robin.

Thanks for you comment Jim

I will keep pratciing and one day I may get one shot that is near to your quality

Thanks for the encouragement

Karl

Bruce with a Canon Loc: Islip

1 and 3 look a bit soft, to m eye 2nd shot looks crisp.
Composition is good given the circumstances.
Are you tripod mounted? if do consider a remote release, they can do wonders.

Karl P Loc: Leigh NW UK

Bruce with a Canon wrote:

1 and 3 look a bit soft, to m eye 2nd shot looks crisp.
Composition is good given the circumstances.
Are you tripod mounted? if do consider a remote release, they can do wonders.

Hi Bruce

Thanks for your constructive comments

these were hand held today as my tripod would not fit in the hide I was useing (to many benches that would not move from the windows)

I will look into getting a remote release for tripod use

Thanks Again

Karl

rlaugh Loc: Michigan & Florida

Very nice!

Karl P Loc: Leigh NW UK

rlaugh wrote:

Very nice!

thanks for looking in and commenting

Karl

gabrielcody

great shots my attempts so far are close to yours in quality i ,ve been trying to stay away from the extreme limits of my zoom and sacrificing a little bokeh in return for sharpness and depth of field this has been giving me a little more detail in the birds which ai like

gabrielcody

great shots my attempts so far are close to yours in quality i ,ve been trying to stay away from the extreme limits of my zoom and sacrificing a little bokeh in return for sharpness and depth of field this has been giving me a little more detail in the birds which ai like

Karl P Loc: Leigh NW UK

gabrielcody wrote:

great shots my attempts so far are close to yours in quality i ,ve been trying to stay away from the extreme limits of my zoom and sacrificing a little bokeh in return for sharpness and depth of field this has been giving me a little more detail in the birds which ai like

Thanks for your comment - much appreciated

JayB Loc: Northeast US

Karl P wrote:

First attempt at small bird shot at the feeding station in Pennington Flash Country Park

It was horedously windy - this is a relativly shaded spot

Camera was set in shutter speed ont he main and at a legnth of 200 - 250mm

C&C please especially on focus and composition

Thanks in advance

I'm a beginner bird photograher nut too. These little guys are deceptively difficult to photograph well. For every hundred shots I take, I'm willing to show one or two, maybe. I put these comments out not as criticism, but to see if anyone else more learned that I might have thoughts to bounce off of. On the first one, shooting a bird with dark highlights in the shade, what about adding a little exposure compensation so the eye isn't lost. I see that this could be difficult to impossible without blowing out the light highlights in the seed the bird is standing on. Just a thought for dark highlights in shade generally. Nice pose though. On the second one, personally I almost automatically throw out straight-on shots of birds, but maybe that's just me. My favorite is this third one. It is acceptably sharp and well-exposed, shows the nice contour of the body, good color rendering, and conveys sweetness and simplicity. Very cute!

Karl P Loc: Leigh NW UK

aerides wrote:

I'm a beginner bird photograher nut too. These li... (show quote)

Thank you very much for these constructive comments
as a "newbi" it is comments like these that I really learn from - critism is not a bad thing if put into context of postive comments to move on from.

I took approx 70 shots of these little critters and these three were the only ones anything like _ I thought I would post to see the reaction and if anyone had sound advice

If you have time - and not already done so - please take a few minutes to look over "Angler" posts of birds - they are spectacular both in flight and some at bird feeders etc - his post is at the top of this thread where you can follow to the topics created

Best Wishes

Trentham Loc: Staffordshire, UK

To help members from outside the UK I believe Karls birds are, in order, Bullfinch, Greenfinch and Robin. They are delightful pics and I'm envious of the Bullfinch as I've only had one sighting in my garden.

Karl P Loc: Leigh NW UK

Trentham wrote:

To help members from outside the UK I believe Karls birds are, in order, Bullfinch, Greenfinch and Robin. They are delightful pics and I'm envious of the Bullfinch as I've only had one sighting in my garden.

Hi Trentham

I must say these were not in my garden either, but I do use the "flash" as an extension of it as only around 200 meter from here.

Many thanks for looking in and commenting - much appreciated

Karl

Harvey Loc: Pioneer, CA

I think you did quite well 2 out of 3 - #2 is just a tad too bright but that happens - does your camera have a bracketing mode, if so I suggest you learn to use it as it will help a lot on questionable or quick shots.
Harvey