Bill,

Just for my knowledge what focal length lens are you usually shooting and how far is the distance to the birds roughly?

Best,
Todd Ferguson

Shoot RAW plus JPEG and keep a copy before you give him the JPEGs.
Some editing by you would be a nice thing to do also...perhaps have him pick out some shots to edit if you don't want to be stuck doing a ton of edits...

Best,
Todd Ferguson

Haydon is spot on Cookie...it is a white balance issue.
If you have filter on your lens take them off.
Use a lens hood to provide protection against bumps and any flare from the sun.
Shoot in RAW and you can easily fix any white balance issues in PP.
Invest in a ColorChecker Passport for accurate color and WB.
Start watching some of the videos about the CC Passport on YouTube now.
Your shots are definitely improving.
Some could still benefit from some use of DOF and some cropping.
Study and practice the Rule of Thirds when composing or cropping.
Your camera may have a grid that you can turn on when shooting or reviewing to help with composition also.
You are getting there...keep at it!

Best,
Todd Ferguson

Why would you ignore the meter? It is still telling you where the camera's meter sees the exposure based on all the parameters that you are shooting at that point in time. If the meter is telling you the shot is going to be over or under exposed it likely will be. Shutter and aperture priority are just saying that you are choosing that parameter as more important at that time.

I shoot a lot of trains moving at 50-70 mph. I shoot those in shutter priority mode with a shutter speed of 1/2000 most of the time. I select my ISO and set it, I don't care for auto ISO because l feel it gets it wrong too often. I prefer to control the parameter. The camera then selects the aperture. It is usually in the f/2.8 to f/4.0 range. That is generally fine because the subject being 100 feet or more away gives me decent depth of field at these open apertures. A DOF app for your phone or tablet can help you understand the combinations and how they will impact your results too.

I need to freeze the motion in this shooting because without that I don't have a worthwhile shot. If my meter is telling me I am overexposed or underexposed then I can judge if that is something I need to change in shooting or will deal with in post processing. Sometimes location of the sun and the orientation of the trains puts you in a backlight situation. It is up to me to decide how I want to shoot that situation. It is based on my knowledge of my equipment and what is most important to the shot. I can let the aperture go more open, I can increase ISO to get a closed down aperture at the same shutter speed, or I can reduce my shutter speed priority if I think I can still freeze the motion. These are the decisions I make as the photographer.

The other important consideration is understanding you different metering modes and using the metering that is most appropriate for the shooting situation. Again this is based on knowledge of your equipment, experience and experimentation to gain that knowledge. For example, if Imam using spot metering do I have that metering mode linked to my focus point or not. Something simple like that could greatly impact the exposure.

So, experience and knowledge are your friend. The great thing about digital is the cost is very low to experiment. In film days it was very expensive to just fire off a roll of Kodachrome 64 to try some experiments. Today I can go out and shoot a few hundred shots if I want and if I don't like the results I can still learn from the exercise and simply delete them when I am done.

Also keep in mind that shooting birds is one of the most challenging and expensive types of shooting you can undertake. It will take time and practice to get good at it...

Best,
Todd Ferguson

I don't understand why people complain so much about the installation of the MagMod mount for Speedlites. Put it on once and leave it on... Why take it on and off? I have had the mounts on my Speedlites for years with no issues.

I do agree that the Speedlites need to have better and stronger mechanisms for holding different angles. That improvement should not be that hard to design into the next generation of Speedlites. But if you look at the capabilities of Speedlites 5-10 years ago vs today they have come a long way.

It sounds to me that your assessment is that each solution is a compromise. That is true but I am very happy with the MagMod overall systems capabilities and ease of use as a Speedlite modifier platform...

Best,
Todd Ferguson

Or if you are shooting in manual just find the proper exposure of the soil with the spot meter and just shoot away or adjust after that if you want to change aperture or shutter speed for your subject. Several ways to skin the Cat...no pun intended.. Exposure lock is probably very underutilized by most people...

Best,
Todd Ferguson

The 100-400 II only has a magnification ration of 0.31... not near macro. But you can get some fairly good close up shots if you are willing to crop. I do the same with my 70-200 and the 2.0 TC III. The one thing that I don't really care for on the 100-400 is the external zoom...but it is an excellent lens and value.

Best,
Todd Ferguson

If you have a spot meter and an idea how much you can safely push your exposure to the right you can use this simple but reliable technique if you are shooting in RAW. Simply identify the brightest area in the frame and spot meter on this place. It is often a cloud on a daylight shot. The meter will meter this bright area as middle gray. I know on my camera I can safely open up two and two thirds stops. I also use this method with a handheld 1 degree spot meter. The issue you can run into with a spot meter on a camera is that the spot is larger and its size varies depending upon the focal length the lens is set at for the shot.

Best,
Todd Ferguson

Unobtanium!!!

What about the Three Tenors...

Best,
Todd Ferguson

Paint the wood...flat black perhaps...

Best,
Todd Ferguson

If the light meter indicated the exposure was correct as you say then the light meter must be working. As others have suggested set the ISO at a value, say 200 or 400 and try shutter or aperture Priority mode and see what the meter is selecting...

Best,
Todd Ferguson

Dehaze slider in Lightroom CC. Viberance Slider will enhance blues and greens. You can hit the J key to toggle black and white clipping points and use that sliders for Blacks, Whites, Shadows and Highlights to adjust your Dynamic Range. If you really want to optimize your colors I highly recommend you invest $100 in a ColorChecker Passport. Probably the best $100 I have spent on digital photography.

Best,
Todd Ferguson