Where Did I Go Wrong?
May 30, 2020 14:40:34 #
pdsilen
Loc: Roswell, New Mexico
I have a pair of swallows who are nesting in my carport. They have a brood of baby chicks which I tried to photograph using a Canon D7 and a Sigma 50 - 500 mm 1:4-6.3 APO DG HSM. I used a very good tripod. Everything looked fine through the view finder. and the camera screen. It looked nice and sharp until I developed them in Photoshop. Everything was out of focus! I did have the lens extended all the way out. That might have been a factor. I desperately want to shoot them again. and do it right. I'm open to feed back
May 30, 2020 14:43:22 #
May 30, 2020 14:48:18 #
alx
Loc: NJ
Use a faster shutter speed. With your 1/3 second shutter, ANY vibration in your setup will show in your picture and is magnified by the long lens.
May 30, 2020 14:51:17 #
To expand on alx's comments, if you weren't using a remote release cable or wireless, simply pushing the shutter button could cause this result.
May 30, 2020 14:53:23 #
Looks like motion blur. The 7D should be capable of getting good images above ISO 200. Try 1000.
May 30, 2020 15:01:15 #
Is that lens stabilized? If so, and the IS was on while locked on a tripod, you'd have the same result as if you "jabbed" at the shutter release. I'd make sure the IS is off, and use the 2- or 10-second shutter timer.
May 30, 2020 15:09:07 #
When I'm after birds, even when they're perched, I try to shoot a 1/1000 or faster because they are always moving their heads. However, everything in your picture is blurred and that probably means camera movement. Especially since you say the image was sharp in the viewfinder. When using long lenses even movement that is practically imperceptible is enough to spoil the shot. I have seen movement while looking through a long lens w/camera tripod mounted that was caused by wind and even vibration from a truck going by on the road I was near. It doesn't take much. Try your shot again using the tips others have suggested.
May 30, 2020 15:14:14 #
pdsilen wrote:
I have a pair of swallows who are nesting in my ca... (show quote)
ISO 6400 and 1/250 second should help. The Sigma is a decent enough lens and it should produce better results.
You can and should ignore the comments about using a timed shutter release, mirror lockup, wired/wireless remote shutter - none of this will make up for a wobbly tripod and unfortunate shutter speed choices. Those recommendations are from people who likely have never shot tree swallow chicks being fed by a parent. These little birs are really twitchy and active and a real pain to shoot - and you can't feed them enough grubs and worms to get them to sit still for a portrait session - so mirror lock up, timed shutter release and possibly a remote shutter release are pretty much out of the question in any case.
OR, you can use a bounced speedlight, like I did in the shots below.
_DSC7517-3077096 by Gene Lugo, on Flickr
_DSC8224-3077096-Edit by Gene Lugo, on Flickr
_DSC8234-3077096-Edit by Gene Lugo, on FlickrThis last image was taken with a Sigma 50-500 and a 12 mp Nikon D300:
_DSC5467 Ruby Throated Hummingbird, Rockefeller Preserve, 2011-Edit by Gene Lugo, on FlickrMay 30, 2020 16:18:59 #
It's all in the shutter speed if you don't use flash. I would go minimum 500 sec. for these birds.
May 30, 2020 18:59:05 #
You were at ISO 200 and 1/3 second shutter speed. It's like Gene51 said above. ISO 6400 would have given you a shutter speed of 1/250 second. That's a big improvement but adding additional light to obtain a faster shutter speed would be a great help.
May 30, 2020 20:54:52 #
pdsilen wrote:
I have a pair of swallows who are nesting in my ca... (show quote)
This is motion blur, you can see the ghost edges.
You can go faster on the SS and higher on the ISO. Did you mean Canon 7D or perhaps 7DII? If a 7D than 1600 and even 3200 is usable, esp with good anit-noise software.
Here is a hand held shot at 400 mm of a bird at a feeder under a raised play house/fort on a swing set.
7DII, 100-400L mk2 @ 400, 1/400 @ f/8.0, ISO-4000 at about 15'.
May 31, 2020 07:27:04 #
standard rule - lens focal length of 500mm / shutter speed must be 1/500th or higher - with no movement you can get away with a slower speed but use a remote shutter release and time triggers when there is the least movement.
May 31, 2020 07:27:21 #
alx wrote:
Use a faster shutter speed. With your 1/3 second shutter, ANY vibration in your setup will show in your picture and is magnified by the long lens.
I will add using the camera's timer, also. That will eliminate "the human touch."
May 31, 2020 08:06:22 #
tcthome
Loc: NJ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8HVPrPzpR4&list=PLOD1rrjm5sQDne9AacaP0weB4mwrclaE8&index=3&t=0s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69jcmNbqGrU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EI7BCMZaxE
Easyest way is to increase your shutter speed to at least 1000 & rest your hand on your lens above the tripod.
Wath Moose's video on it. I believe Steve Perry has 1 also.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69jcmNbqGrU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EI7BCMZaxE
Easyest way is to increase your shutter speed to at least 1000 & rest your hand on your lens above the tripod.
Wath Moose's video on it. I believe Steve Perry has 1 also.
May 31, 2020 08:54:07 #
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