1st Attempt

[mervin]

Hello all,

this is my 1st attempt shooting these lovely birds in my garden, have seen these fellas for years but just only managed to coughed up the money for a decent DSLR.

all comments are welcome

thanks.

checking out for threats.



what are u looking at ???? never seen bird before ah ???



sucking it all up !!!!


YUMMY !!!!!!

[RockPopCorns]

Nice catch buddy!
for the 1st pic, increase in DOF will be perfect!

btw, what equipment u used?

(2 cents worth)..

[mervin]

thanks for the tip.

pics were taken "hand held" no tripod..........

i'm using a Canon 20D with Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 lens

[mervin]

hanging around after makan.

[patch17]

check your focus. first pic looks like the leaves in the foreground are sharper than the bird (which should be the subject of the photo.)

good effort, wait for him to come back and try again.

[mervin]

agreed.

wondered what happened, think it was my excitment and my hands.

thanks

[ccplim]

Nice try bro! Can try using some fill-in flash to bring out the details in the shadowed area

[Newguy69]

Hi mervin,

Nice 1st attempt. You may want to try playing with the EV & WB to get a better exposure and what bro ccplim has mentioned, fill-in flash will help to bring out more details in the shadowed area. Tripob is also very helpful in min. handsake when shooting stationary birdies.

Wish I also had a 20D but money not enough for prime lenses...

Cheers

[mervin]

ok. points noted.

flash, wouldn't that overexpose the rest of the "good" areas ???

these small fellas are flying from 1 spot to the other, barely can keep up with them. just as one is about to shoot after forcuing and they are off to another.

therefore i was wondering how u gurus out there use a tripod ????

[ccplim]

Originally Posted by mervin ok. points noted. flash, wouldn't that overexpose the rest of the "good" areas ??? these small fellas are flying from 1 spot to the other, barely can keep up with them. just as one is about to shoot after forcuing and they are off to another. therefore i was wondering how u gurus out there use a tripod ????

The flash is use for fill-in and it will not be fired at full power. So, don't worry about overexposing the other area.

As for tripod, its main purpose is to give you a more stable support. It is not necessary to lock it when you shoot. Try it out and you will soon get to know the difference.

[mervin]

okie, will get a tripod and off for more shoots !!!

thanks and cheers !!!!!

[ccplim]

Originally Posted by mervin okie, will get a tripod and off for more shoots !!! thanks and cheers !!!!!

You are welcome! A tripod can also help to keep your hands 'free' while waiting for the birds to appear

[John]

Originally Posted by mervin thanks for the tip. pics were taken "hand held" no tripod.......... i'm using a Canon 20D with Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 lens

Mervin..throwing in some flash will be good.

[mervin]

could it be due to my lens hood ???

was so excited when the bird arrived that i forgot that the hood is on !!!


anyway please advise which flash is "good", me using Canon 20D.


thanks a million !!!

[benny]

Hi Mervin!

This is commendable effort for a first attempt. Did you crop the pictures at all?

For a start, you can try the on camera flash. It should work quite well. I think there are also lotof 550EX and 420EX selling in the buy and sell section. Do look out for them.

If budget permits, the 580EX is the flagship at the moment. It's lighter and smaller than 550EX, better reach. Has white balance communication with the camera. But at a cost.

Cheers,

[John]

Originally Posted by mervin could it be due to my lens hood ??? was so excited when the bird arrived that i forgot that the hood is on !!! anyway please advise which flash is "good", me using Canon 20D. thanks a million !!!

Hi Mervin..

Benny have made some very good recommendations on the flash...one more thing it has nothing to do wth the lens hood..unless you are using long lens like the rpime 400 and above whereby the flash can be blocked by the huge lens hood ..other than that ..with a 70-200mm F2.8 lens hood is not an issues ...anyway if you want a better reached for your flash...get urself a flash bracket that can be mounted infront instead of on the body horse shoe...this setup I recommend for longer telehphto lens.

By the way ..I am no canon user but a nikon(S2 Pro) user ..the same theory applies...looking at your shot..you are undershed and with min. light illumination on your subject..you need to flash it up to create the impact.

[fengwei]

Originally Posted by ccplim The flash is use for fill-in and it will not be fired at full power. So, don't worry about overexposing the other area. As for tripod, its main purpose is to give you a more stable support. It is not necessary to lock it when you shoot. Try it out and you will soon get to know the difference.

But I got some over-exposed part when using fill-in flash:



Looks the bird exposed okay, but got some over-burned part too

How to solve this kind of problem then?

Thanks and cheers!

[John]

Originally Posted by fengwei But I got some over-exposed part when using fill-in flash: Looks the bird exposed okay, but got some over-burned part too How to solve this kind of problem then? Thanks and cheers!

use a diffuser doom and cut the flash back a bit.

[fengwei]

Originally Posted by John use a diffuser doom and cut the flash back a bit.

Thanks. I guess that IS the problem. I was using a Stofen Diffuser already but the flash is still too strong I guess.

[John]

Originally Posted by fengwei Thanks. I guess that IS the problem. I was using a Stofen Diffuser already but the flash is still too strong I guess.

IS is the image stabiliser ...wouldnt be an issu, it helps to cut down handshake issues not " bird_shake issues".

To prevent "bird_shake" issues 2 things ..use higher ISO to better freeze motion and use higher shutter speed.

well..since your are using diffuser dom....try cutting down the flash further...there is no one settings that is good for all changing lighting conditions.