My First bird pictures....Suggestions? (Page 2): Gene51, Now I am really confused... my lens is actually a Tamron 150-600. I don't know why the metadata you viwed was diffeent. Is that...

Ben's nana Loc: Chesterland, Ohio

Gene51 wrote:

Fran, the camera work is fine - good exposure, you... (show quote)

Gene51,
Now I am really confused... my lens is actually a Tamron 150-600. I don't know why the metadata you viwed was diffeent. Is that something I did wrong, because the correct metatdata is in my lightroom info?

Fran

Haydon

Ben's nana wrote:

Thank you Haydon. I looked at the rest of your bird pictures...they are beautiful. What settings do you use for when they are in flight? dp you use tripod/monopod or gimbal?

Fran

Generally I shoot BIF 1/1000 second or faster.

My 500F4 IMO isn't really managable to handhold. The version 1 500 F4 is a little over 8 lbs and my success in sharp shots comes from using a gimbal and a tripod. The low angle shot I shared with you was done with a groundpod and a ballhead.

Swamp-Cork Loc: Lanexa, Virginia

Ben's nana wrote:

Hello all, I just took my first bird pics. Nothing too exciting, he was just sitting in my yard. I'd appreciate any suggestions.
They were shot at f9, 1/160, ISO 400, 600mm lens

Thanks in advance

Fran

Very nice, Ben and keep shooting and listen to the good advice that has been given in these comments The people are much better than me and it helps to listen and observe their work! Take care!

kpmac Loc: Ragley, La

Faster shutter speed, especially hand held. With a D750 you can bump your iso up without noise worry if needed. A wider aperture will give you a more blurred background which I think would be better in this case. Nice start, though. These captures are not pretty good. Keep shooting, it's fun to practice and remember you will never run out of film.

mcveed Loc: Kelowna, British Columbia (between trips)

I think your first bird photos are great. Your shutter speed was just fine for stationary birds. If the birds are hopping around you would miss a lot unless you go for a faster shutter speed. The thing about small birds like robins is that they don't move slow, they jerk from one position to another then freeze, unless they are hopping along on the ground or flying. If they are on the ground or perched you will get good shots at the speed that prevent camera shake (varies for each photographer) or you will take the shot just as the bird jerks and you will miss it altogether. Your pictures could be improved by two things - a lower camera position and some post processing to bring out feather details.

tdekany Loc: Oregon

robertjerl wrote:

Pretty good considering.
Faster shutter speed
Get closer, that is a pretty extreme crop. When I got my first long lens I too was trying to take pictures of things way too far away.
Also Robins are fairly small, large birds, yes you can be further away, not small ones.

Robert, when was the last time you have tried to take a picture of one of these guys? They are everywhere here, but there is no way in hell you are going to get "close" to them. Maybe you were a navy seal in your youth and you have some secrets that you can share with us regular people?

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

Ben's nana wrote:

Thanks for advice and compliment. I did use a sigma lens. 150-600 f5-6.3. I put it in lightroom, and that is what my metadata states/. I did also put it in the DX format (apparently forgot to mention) as I read some where that it is helpful in shots where you will need lots of cropping. I, also, am in the circle of confusion because I don't know what that is :)

Fran

I also found the meta data (EXIF data) confusing but you explained some of that with your DX mode comment. Birds, animals and people typically look best when the eyes are in sharp focus, so that could be addressed in various ways, but for a 600mm lens your shutter speeds do seem on the slow side. 1/80 for a couple I think. You may be steady, but if the bird moves slightly - I'm told that they do that - then you will lose some sharpness from motion blur.

You seem to be off to a great start, but I would try to get to faster shutter speeds if the light allows for it, possibly a more open aperture but not too much or DOF will suffer.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

tdekany wrote:

Robert, when was the last time you have tried to take a picture of one of these guys? They are everywhere here, but there is no way in hell you are going to get "close" to them. Maybe you were a navy seal in your youth and you have some secrets that you can share with us regular people?

Snarky today are we?

A few hours ago actually, I do birds all the time.

Not a Seal, just from a family of hunters and Army in Nam for two years.
I shoot a lot of birds at the feeders, birdbath etc in my yard by having the camera inside the family room and the sliding doors open. Range about 50-60 feet
I also sit quietly in a lawn chair in the shade and get shots at 10-20 feet once they are used to me being there.
In addition I have a popup hunters blind with windows on all four sides.
One of the keys is to move slowly and steady, not stopping and starting, no fast movements, don't let reflections off lenses, glasses etc startle the birds.
When I am watering or trimming the potted plants the birds will often decide to ignore me and come down to feed 10 feet or so from me. Hummers of course are a different story, they will play chase the birdie with each other and use my head for a pylon to play ring around the human.

tombackman Loc: RHODE ISLAND

Hello,
Nice DOF, sharp focus where it is important, good catch light in eye on #1 #2. I think #2 the best because the bird is looking at the viewer. #1 the leaf is is a distraction, #3 can't see the eye.
Good shooting. In nature not every shot is a winner, #2 is a winner. Keep it up.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Very nice start for your bird photos. My favorites are 2 and 3. The first is nice, but the subject is facing away from you. However all of them exhibit good exposure and very nice depth of field. The exposure is nice due to details in the shadows and no blown highlights. The DOF provides just enough to clearly show the immediate surroundings and the subject. Keep up the good work and concentrate on improvements with each future photo.
--Bob

Ben's nana wrote:

Hello all, I just took my first bird pics. Nothing too exciting, he was just sitting in my yard. I'd appreciate any suggestions.
They were shot at f9, 1/160, ISO 400, 600mm lens

Thanks in advance

Fran

wmurnahan Loc: Bloomington IN

Fotoserj wrote:

Pretty good, I would close aperture one click more to get background more out of focus and perhaps use the flash as fill light, fill the shadow as my mentor say.

Maybe I'm not following what you mean my "close the aperture" I think stopping down, going from f8 to f16, which would put more of the background in focus. I think of the opposite word "open" and think going from f8 to f5.6 because you are opening up the aperture.

Hsch39 Loc: Northbrook, Illinois

At 600mm I would go with 1000 iso- 1/1000sec and spot focusing on the eye.

RRS Loc: Not sure

Hsch39 wrote:

At 600mm I would go with 1000 iso- 1/1000sec and spot focusing on the eye.

Why such a high ISO? If it's not a BIF a much slower shutter speed works just fine. And yes I do shoot a 600mm lens.

JennT Loc: South Central PA

Excellent coverage (academic) of all sides of the American Robin! Carry on!

Hsch39 Loc: Northbrook, Illinois

Did you use a tripod? If not, go with 1/1000 to 1/1200 sec, and spot focus. You have to increase your ISO to make up for the shorter exposure. By enlarging your photos, none are really sharp. What 600mm lens did you use? Photo below taken at 400mm - ISO 1600 - f13 - 1/750sec hand held, no stabilizer Yes, the ISO was a little to high.

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