Bird Photography

[Bobobird]

Wonderful thread and tons of good info and links. Thanks everyone.

For birds in flight my basic settings are -
1/1250
ISO200
f5.6
AI Servo,
Single point focus.
Evaluative metering.

These get me reasonable results. But I want outstanding results.

About focal lengths - yes that is always an issue but note that no matter what lens we have we will always find ourselves 100mm too short!

My biggest problem is getting the underside of the bird exposed properly. How do you guys get around this?
Thanks.

[rpcrowe]

My biggest problem is getting the underside of the bird exposed properly. How do you guys get around this?
Thanks.

Has anyone tried using fill flash? I know that using HSS would cut down the intensity of the flash considerably but, I wonder if using a Flash-Xtender would help. I have recently purchased a Flash-Xtender used on eBay but, I have not gotten around to usuing it.

Along those lines, I wonder if using multiple flashes would help. I have a 550EX and a 430EX and a 420EX. I recently saw a thread on some forum (don't remember where) in which the photographers used multiple flashes in shooting surfers from a pier.

I have a two flash bracket, so, I could use the 550EX as my master and my 430ex and 420EX as slaves. I will need to research if the 550EX master with 420EX and 430EX slaves will support HSS? Anyone know if it will?

[Peter Ryan]

I use matrix meter - there is no cahnce to get a proper ready using spot metering.

The sky is around 1.3 stops brighter than mid-tone and under exposes your shot. Open up your exposure compensation by 1.3 or 1.7 stops you should have no trouble getting detail in the underside of the bird.

[Bobobird]

Thanks Peter. Matrix = Evaluative in Canon-speak right? If so, that is what I use. Spot is for bugs mostly.

Richard - used it 2 times before but not any more. Results are okish if the target is not too far off.

[Brownbear]

Thank you Dave... Yes, pelicans are full of character and amusing antics... I just figured out how to set this forum, so I receive replies... Looking forward to learning.

[Brownbear]

Hi. I try to always shoot pelicans on bright sunny days; always use ISO 100, rarely use fill flash (except for birds right on the beach), and seem to use an F stop number of between 5.6 and 7 for my better shots. In reviewing some of my better photos these are the numbers I see on the properties (of course pelicans are rather large bird subjects) (and I too, would like to learn how to increase the exposure on my shots)








What I would love to learn is how to increase my DOF, and still get so close to these birds (using a regular zoom lens) without everything blurring as it seems to do if I set my camera to aperture mode.

[IMG][/IMG]

[Peter Ryan]

Hi Christina, if you read my post, just 3 above, you will see you need to increase your Exposure Compensation (check your manual) by around 1.3 to 1.7 stops. The sky is too bright and causing your meter to underexposue. Similarly the water is highly reflective and causing the same effect. I would also move your ISO to 200 to get a faster shutter speed.

[Svetik]

Here is my bird ;-) i am beginner this is one of my favorites :-)

[Peter Ryan]

Hi Svetlana,

A really nice shot. You did manage to get very close to the bird, well done.

The amount of white in the bird has caused your camera to under expose a little and the bird also looks a little flat. The exposure can be fixed with Exposure Compensation within the camera or later in post production, although it is always better to get it right in the camera.

The contrast and sharpness is an issue for all digital cameras and all digital shots do require some post production in this regard.

With a little more brightness, contrast and sharpening this little bird will really stand out. Well done.

[Svetik]

Thanks Peter here i tryed PP
Is this will be better? I am still trying figure my CS5 thanks

[Peter Ryan]

Hi Svetlana,

Certainly much brigher now and eye is more vibrant. The problem with white is when you start to lighten it you can very easily blow out the highlights and this has happened from the back of the beak and along the top of the head. You can see in the original some detail is lost across the top of the head, just above and in front of the eye. Lightening this shot has extended that right across the back of the head. Also the added brightness has blown out detail on the birds neck. Below is a compromise between the first and the second, trying to retain as much detail in the feathers as possible. BUt you have the idea and now it is just practice. Oh, I also removed the bit of dirt from his neck. Well done again.

[Brownbear]

Thank you Peter. Will try this next time around and post the photos when I achieve a good result. Hopefully soon.

I thought it was best to absolutely always use ISO of 100 in bright sunlight and no noise, so will try. Thank you.!

[Dave Humphries]

I thought it was best to absolutely always use ISO of 100 in bright sunlight and no noise, so will try.

Hi Christina, that is a common misconception, although it is more true on compact cameras than DSLRs.

If you're not going to crop heavily, by the time you downsize for web display, most of the noise will go away, but if you have blurry pics due to camera shake or subject movement, or soft ones due to a lack of Depth of Field (DoF), that will be far more obvious (and difficult to fix in PP).

Please don't be afraid of higher ISOs, much better to get exposure right with a higher iso than attempt to brighten it up in PP.

Depending upon your camera 400 should be fine, with a DSLR I regularly shoot at 800 or more.

Cheers,

[Brownbear]

Thank you. I have a Sony Alpha DSLR (200) Next time around, I will experiment with higher ISOs, which I have avoided up until today.

[TobyMac]

Thanks for the tip on the ISO, I was also always shooting on 100 because I thought higher would worsen the Image quality. While on the topic of higher ISO's, how can one reduce the noise in PP?

[Dave Humphries]

Thanks for the tip on the ISO, I was also always shooting on 100 because I thought higher would worsen the Image quality. While on the topic of higher ISO's, how can one reduce the noise in PP?

Hi Tobias,

Why do you need to?
You shouldn't need to if you have well exposed the image and not cropped down so far that you no longer need to downsize for displaying online, say here.

Whatever noise you might see while pixel peeping at 100% will usually be averaged out of existence when you down size from your PP'd image of some 4000 pixels to 1000 for web display.

If you really do need to (compact or P&S at high iso, or DSLR at 3200 and above), I recommend a third party thing called Neat Image. It works stand alone, or as a plug-in to most image editing programs.

Here's a thread I wrote demonstrating how simple it is to use (it also contains a link to their website);
Neat Image

Cheers,

[Brownbear]

Okay, I tried using 200, Exposure plus 1, Aperture priority which worked well for photo #1, very poorly for photo 2 (here is an example of the big blur and lots of noise using aperture priority F 10) and the third and fouth photos using same 1so and exposure - the shot is much sharper but has no DOF

[IMG][/IMG]



The big blur using aperture priority




Sharper using Sports Mode




Should I try shutter speed priority?

Thank you in advance

[Peter Ryan]

I do not have a lot of time to answer right now but quickley. I know other will pick up on this as well.

#1. The bird is stationary and in profile so shutter speed is not an issue for blur. An aperture of f10 is also fine for DOF because everything is on one focal plane.

#2. This one is heavily cropped and so noise is more prevelant and would be at 100 ISO, I suspect. f10 is to wide for this shot as you need a faster shutter to freeze the action. Check the tutorial on the recipricol relationship between aperture and shutter. I would use your widest aperture (small number) so you get your fastest shutter. DOF is not a real issue as the bird is not to long - i.e. not much DOF to worry about so use same settings as in #1.

#3. Here DOF is an issue because the birds are spread over some distance. This is where photography is a compromise but I would try to get the birds in the front sharp. Use same settings as #1 to freeze the action.

#4. Sports mode by default gives you the fasest shutter speed and as a consequence the widest aperture - the same as the settings I gave in #1. Again DOF is not an issue because the bird is not long (so to speak) so not spread out like alll the birds in #3.

I hope this helps.

[Brownbear]

Thank you Peter. Very helpful. I'm just learning... FYI #2 is not cropped - straight out of the camera... I will try all your recommendations, and when I get a great close up action shot, of a pelican I'll post.. Thanks a million!

[Peter Ryan]

Hi Chrstina,

In the search line type in Brown Pelican and look for a thread titles The Story of the Brown Pelican. You will see shots I took earlier this year in Galapagos. They were taken using the same method as we have been dicussing. Have a look and ask questions and ill get back to you but it will probably not be until next Monday. Happy shooting.