Another Canon lens dilemma

[dulceza]

Hi,
I just bought my new 70-200 f4 and this is my very first try. In my backyard I don't have to much light, so I would like to ask you what should I do to improve .
The pic is hand held, AV mode, ISO auto and I kept the UV filter on my lens.
Thank you

[rpcrowe]

You did quite a decent job hand holding... What was your focal length, shutter speed and f/stop. Additionally, at what ISO were you shooting? Finally, what post processing, if any, did you do with this image?

When I shot with my previous non-IS 70-200mm lens, the 1/focal length formula for shutter speed did not work very well for me. I needed at least a shutter speed of 1/focal length x crop factor and sometimes faster in order to be sure of a sharp image. Of course, as I grow older, my ability to hand-hold at lower shutter speeds has diminished.

[Geoff F]

You have a difficult mix of lighting requirements there, Dora.

I would be tempted to try a little negative exposure compensation then increase it selectivly by editing with a partial mask on an adjustment layer. But that wouldn't make a lot of difference as you are fairly close anyway.

Shooting Av is often recommended but you always need to keep an eye on the shutter speed as well. And I would prefer to manually choose the ISO instead of risking the auto setting selecting an inappropriate shutter speed or aperture.

I would also selectively sharpen the bird and birdtable separately from the background.

In addition, with shots like this I normally just use the centre focusing point to prevent accidental false auto focusing problems. But we don't know what settings you actually used here. As Richard mentioned.

The UV filter won't make any difference either way, except giving you a little bit of extra lens safety.

[Snarkbyte]

In addition to what has already been said, I think the composition of this shot could be improved in a couple of ways. First, taking 2 or 3 steps to your left (if possible) would reduce or eliminate the strong vertical band of skylight to the left of the feeder, which is a bit of a distraction. I suspect it would also help reduce the glare from brightly lit areas of the feeder. Second, you could have aimed a bit higher. The top of the feeder is cut off, and too much of the supporting pole is visible. Try practicing recomposing after focus.; in this case focus on the bird's eye then aim a bit higher and perhaps toward the right a bit while keeping the shutter half-pressed. Recomposing after focus is one of the most useful techniques you can learn, and it's easy to do. Used in combination with exposure lock (see AE Lock in your camera manual), this will allow to set exposure in one place, focus in another, and then aim for final composition before you release the shutter (not as complicated as it sounds, after a little practice).

Congrats on the new lens!

[FrankMi]

Hi Dora, assuming that this isn't already cropped, shooting just a tad higher would help to include the rest of the roof and give you some lattitude for cropping level. Nice capture!

[dulceza]

The EXIF data are :
focal length=200 mm
shutter speed =1/60, F13, ISO 3200
It was cropped a little bit, for the pole, no PP. Composition is terrible, I know , but I can work on that. I tried manual focus but for a blue jay, I'm too slow. Next step is to buy my own bird feeder , because the fence is too high, and start practice recomposing. Thank you all for your very useful comments.

[speedneeder]

I tried manual focus but for a blue jay, I'm too slow.

I don't doubt that! My experience from using my own 70-200 f4 IS is that it is MUCH faster and accurate to focus
I am curious why you chose f13 for this shot? I would expect to use something in the 5.6-8 range for this photo, maybe even f4. This would allow you to have a higher shutter speed and/or a lower ISO, potentially making a sharper image.

Thanks for sharing your photo with us

[dulceza]

Hi Brian,
I wasn't prepared for this shot, just zooming around, probably I simply ignored to change my aperture, however I always thought that a smaller aperture will give you pin-sharp details in both the foreground and the background.
Thanks for your comments.

[Colin Southern]

I always thought that a smaller aperture will give you pin-sharp details in both the foreground and the background.

Hi Dora,

A smaller aperture will give you a greater depth-of-field, but where you focus initially can have a big effect on which parts of that greater depth-of-field are in focus. As per Brian's suggestion, just use the Auto-Focus - it's a LOT faster and accurate then our eyes will ever be (most of the time!).

With regards to your image, I'd suggest learning a bit more about sharpeneing ... it'll make a big difference.

[Colin Southern]

Any better?

[dulceza]

Hi Colin,
For this one I used auto-focus, but I don't like the background and the brightly lit area of the feeder. Yes, I need to learn more about sharpening and how to do it selectively(Photoshop is in my wish list). Thank you for your help

[William W]

Hi,
I just bought my new 70-200 f4 and this is my very first try. In my backyard I don't have to much light, so I would like to ask you what should I do to improve. The pic is hand held, AV mode, ISO auto and I kept the UV filter on my lens.
Thank you

If you wish to shoot in Av Mode, then:

Select Av = F /4.5 ~ F/5.6 for similar shooting / lighting scenarios.

Dump AUTO ISO and select ISO manually.

Make the choice of ISO dependent upon the light levels and such that you have a range of Tv avilable you need to make the shot(s).

The Tv you need to make the shot will include addressing:
> Hand Holding and also
> Subject Movement


If, for example in this shot, you had selected the Av = F/5 and you had selected the ISO manually at ISO = 800, you still could have made Tv = 1/125s and had less noise.

Alternatively if you set the Av = F/5 and ISO = 1600 the camera would have selected Tv = 1/250s which is a lot safer hand held and still less noise.

The point is if you shoot in Av Mode as well as choosing the Av to make the DoF (Depth of Field) you require: the Av Selection must be predicated on the Scene's lighting and the Tv you require to make the shot, whilst also considering a suitable ISO, to give you a suitable range of Tv

You have no (very little) control over the Tv, when you have the camera AUTOMATICALLY deciding both the Tv AND the ISO, when you are in Av Mode and AUTO ISO mode.

Depending upon where YOU were standing, with the sun at that angle, a lens hood would serve you much better, than any UV filter.

WW