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Second attempt at birds
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Mar 27, 2017 18:23:03   #
sb Loc: Florida's East Coast
 
Nice set!

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Mar 27, 2017 18:28:28   #
J-SPEIGHT Loc: Akron, Ohio
 
Ben's nana wrote:
So, thank you all again for your advice on bird photography a few days ago. I went out this morning and tried again. Unfortunately, the rookery I went to was roadside and surrounded by fencing, so I still had to crop quite a bit. Most of the pictures were of a mating pair that I had clear shot of. I "attempted" to take some herons in flight and I got about 2 pictures out of 20 which were ok. My sky was still pretty white in spite of my focusing on the bird. I shot mostly at 480-600mm, ISO 250, f 6.3. and had to lighten up some in PS. The light meter on my camera read "0" Is my not getting a more blurred backround due to the distance, and would using a teleconverter help? Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance

Fran
So, thank you all again for your advice on bird ph... (show quote)


Excellent set Fran.

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Mar 27, 2017 18:30:24   #
Ben's nana Loc: Chesterland, Ohio
 
J-SPEIGHT wrote:
Excellent set Fran.



Thank you.

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Mar 27, 2017 18:30:55   #
Ben's nana Loc: Chesterland, Ohio
 
sb wrote:
Nice set!


Thank you, Steve

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Mar 27, 2017 18:34:17   #
Ben's nana Loc: Chesterland, Ohio
 
Carolina Wings wrote:
Great job and great series Fran!


Thank you so much. It's definitely getting a little easier

Fran

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Mar 27, 2017 18:37:43   #
Ben's nana Loc: Chesterland, Ohio
 
robertjerl wrote:
Progress already!!!!
Your framing and composition seems to be generally good.
Focus is improving a lot.
A bit dark and that hides a lot of feather detail. Try the spot exposure along with the center point AF. Then the exposure and focus are both on the subject.
Next step is working on the Post Processing. We have some PP experts on the UHH.


Thanks for advice and compliment. I used group metering. From a sports blog a lot of people use that because its like having a 5 point spot instead of 1, and I need all the help I can get.

Fran

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Mar 27, 2017 18:39:22   #
Ben's nana Loc: Chesterland, Ohio
 
GoldwingerTX wrote:
Nice group of shots.

Look like you are focus on bird body instead of his eye.
Focus on his eye will give you better clear shots.



Thank you. I'll work to focus on eye more

Fran

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Mar 27, 2017 18:40:51   #
Ben's nana Loc: Chesterland, Ohio
 
tmehrkam wrote:
I am wondering if a circular polarizer would bring out the sky.


I was wondering the same thing? I'm going to try that next time and see if it makes a difference

Fran

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Mar 27, 2017 18:44:34   #
Ben's nana Loc: Chesterland, Ohio
 
SLSphotoart wrote:
With dark birds and light background I'd shoot manual shutter and aperture with ISO auto and up the EV plus one at least. Teleconveters lower resolution, 600mm is good enough.


Thanks for advice. I believe i had the iso sensitivity on. Did not think about EV, as my light meter read "0". maybe I'll look at a test shot first next time and make adjustments

Fran

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Mar 27, 2017 18:46:19   #
Ben's nana Loc: Chesterland, Ohio
 
bluezzzzz wrote:
Blue herons are one of my favorite birds also, and I never get tired of photographing them. Here in central Kentucky they are fairly common and not too hard to find. Shakertown in Harrodsburg has a small riverboat cruise in May that travels past a rookery in the Palisades of the Kentucky river.

For anyone wondering, that is a sycamore tree and the balls are seed pods. Herons favor them for their rookery sites. Must be something about the branch structure.

Keep up the good work!


Thank you
I guess I never noticed how prett they are until you see them up close

Fran

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Mar 27, 2017 18:50:26   #
Ben's nana Loc: Chesterland, Ohio
 
robertjerl wrote:
Was it an overcast or hazy sky that would account for the white/light gray? If not and it was blue then the solution is to bring up the blue in PP. You indicate you have PS, if it is the CC version you have LR and in Develop there is a set of controls HSL/Color/B&W in either HSL or Color you can change Hue, Saturation or Luminance. I used to favor Color but now almost always use the HSL.

Someone mentioned not being able to follow BIF with any kind of tripod/head combination.
I find the Gimbal head and a sturdy-tall tripod it is just like using a machine gun off a pedestal mount. It swings left/right, up/down and rotates as the birds go by, be careful not to trip on the tripod legs. For birds overhead having the tripod set so the camera is a bit above eye level works, for lower than eye level and if the birds are skimming the water etc below your camera level then you have to set the tripod short or aim the camera down.

Although the tripod adds to what I carry and has to be set up I find that my tracking of BIF is steadier than when I hand hold. Using a pistol grip on the tripod collar of the lens helps but doesn't steady things as much as the tripod does.
Was it an overcast or hazy sky that would account ... (show quote)


It was definitely hazy, not much contrarst in the sky at all. I'm going to check out your tip in Lightroom.
Fran

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Mar 27, 2017 19:39:57   #
Digital1022 Loc: Holland, PA
 
Ben's nana wrote:
John

I tried your lightroom recommendations on other bird shots...what an inprovement. Thank you for the tip

Fran


No Problem; Any time.

John

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Mar 27, 2017 19:43:42   #
Digital1022 Loc: Holland, PA
 
Ben's nana wrote:
It was definitely hazy, not much contrarst in the sky at all. I'm going to check out your tip in Lightroom.
Fran


Fran
Try it, but I did not find much blue in the sky. Also, be wary of trying to get too much blue in the background as you will undoubtedly see the blue in the Heron change also. I think the overcast was such that you were dealing with a dreaded gray sky. I also wonder if you had an all blue sky with no contrast, how much you would lose in making the Heron the focal point. Just a thought.

John

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Mar 27, 2017 21:29:26   #
Swamp-Cork Loc: Lanexa, Virginia
 
Very beautiful series, Fran!
Ben's nana wrote:
So, thank you all again for your advice on bird photography a few days ago. I went out this morning and tried again. Unfortunately, the rookery I went to was roadside and surrounded by fencing, so I still had to crop quite a bit. Most of the pictures were of a mating pair that I had clear shot of. I "attempted" to take some herons in flight and I got about 2 pictures out of 20 which were ok. My sky was still pretty white in spite of my focusing on the bird. I shot mostly at 480-600mm, ISO 250, f 6.3. and had to lighten up some in PS. The light meter on my camera read "0" Is my not getting a more blurred backround due to the distance, and would using a teleconverter help? Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance

Fran
So, thank you all again for your advice on bird ph... (show quote)

Reply
Mar 27, 2017 21:45:05   #
bluezzzzz Loc: Stamping Ground, KY
 
Fran,

You might be interested in this website. This guy covers it all, and I found it very helpful. It's all free, but I was so impressed with his sharing of his knowledge that I sent him some bucks!

http://www.digitalbirdphotography.com/cover.html

Marshall

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