Ideas on improving please: I am wondering what i can do to improve this picture? I have been working on bird photos, I am taking them through a window. Can you please look at my...

crazy4thread Loc: Minnesota

I am wondering what i can do to improve this picture? I have been working on bird photos, I am taking them through a window. Can you please look at my settings and let me know how I can improve. I realize the window is degrading the quality, but is this the best I can get through a window? Thanks for any suggestions/ideas.
(I did do a little adjusting of brightness and contrast in PS)

Lens Cap Loc: The Cold North Coast

A little pp HDR might bring out some of the wood grain....

graham52 Loc: Scotland

I might be tempted to try a tighter crop

ftpecktim Loc: MONTANA

That is a great shot. About the only way to improve it would be to open the window. LOL. You have very clean windows and good glass in them.

Ched49 Loc: Pittsburgh, Pa.

Not bad...what camera are you using? When shooting through glass place your lens gently aganst the glass. A tighter crop wouldn't hurt.

crazy4thread Loc: Minnesota

Lens Cap wrote:

A little pp HDR might bring out some of the wood grain....

Thanks, i did think about trying HDR. I do like the results if done right.

crazy4thread Loc: Minnesota

graham52 wrote:

I might be tempted to try a tighter crop

I did crop some but will crop even more and see what i get, Thanks

crazy4thread Loc: Minnesota

ftpecktim wrote:

That is a great shot. About the only way to improve it would be to open the window. LOL. You have very clean windows and good glass in them.

Thanks. I have taken the window out at times but considering I am in Minnesota and it is rather frigid out right now, I think I would be better off bundling up and going out. I just wondered how my camera settings were.
As for the "clean" windows ha ha ha ha. I spend way to much time with my camera in my hand instead of a cleaning rag...and we will just leave it at that :)

crazy4thread Loc: Minnesota

cjkorb wrote:

Not bad...what camera are you using? When shooting through glass place your lens gently aganst the glass. A tighter crop wouldn't hurt.

I have a Canon 60D. I will try getting close to the glass. This can be tricky without my "subjects" away sometimes. Thanks for looking and commenting.

Wahawk Loc: NE IA

Make sure the glass is the highest quality possible to eliminate as much distortion as possible. During the 'night' hours (when the birds are not there) clean the glass. Then if possible put the camera on a tripod, aim and pre-focus and use a remote release to actually take the pictures.

For the conditions you have described you have done an AWESOME job with that photo!!

crazy4thread Loc: Minnesota

Wahawk wrote:

Make sure the glass is the highest quality possible to eliminate as much distortion as possible. During the 'night' hours (when the birds are not there) clean the glass. Then if possible put the camera on a tripod, aim and pre-focus and use a remote release to actually take the pictures.

For the conditions you have described you have done an AWESOME job with that photo!!

Thank you! I was hoping my settings were good, now I need to be able to shoot without the glass between us.

lovitlots Loc: Tottenham, Ontario, Canada

crazy4thread wrote:

I am wondering what i can do to improve this picture? I have been working on bird photos, I am taking them through a window. Can you please look at my settings and let me know how I can improve. I realize the window is degrading the quality, but is this the best I can get through a window? Thanks for any suggestions/ideas.
(I did do a little adjusting of brightness and contrast in PS)

Shooting through the window is your biggest issue here. It's like having a bad filter on the front. Getting outside or opening the window and just covering the open section with foam or towels to make the open part just big enough for you lens will improve things greatly and you'll still stay relatively warm. Another thing to liven the image on a cloudy day is use a flash to liven the light.

Add Loc: S.W.Florida

Try cropping so the bird is in the lower right 1/3 crosshairs.

T C Gibson

You might bump up the contrast a little bit. Sometimes that will help more than just increasing the brightness.

crazy4thread Loc: Minnesota

lovitlots wrote:

quote=crazy4thread I am wondering what i can do t... (show quote)

thank you for the good ideas and suggestions. You know I might just have to cut a piece of foam insulation to fit in the window for open shots! And I will try the flash.