Birds in Jurong Bird Park First Ever Attempt

[skatanic]

Hi Guys,

This is my very very first ever bird photography in Jurong Bird Park and my very very first post in CS. Rent a Canon D20 with a 90-300mm telezoom lens. Please please do critic my photos and leave a few comment.. Thanks


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[Kaldorei]

Looks somewhat overblown on my monitor, esp. the 1st pic. You might want to lower the exposure.

[skatanic]

Originally Posted by Kaldorei Looks somewhat overblown on my monitor, esp. the 1st pic. You might want to lower the exposure.

I think I did a little too much on the brightness and contrast during PP. Thanks for the comments anyway...

[raptor84]

First one composition not bad but a little over and slightly soft. Third one has very distracting b/g and a little too much empty space IMO And the last profile shot looks kinda odd. Also the composion is a little unblanced. I would have croped it so that the owls face fills mabe about 2/3 of the frame? Might look better as a face on shot though

[DeSwitch]

Good for 1st attempt. I notice some blown whites (overexposed) esp on #1. Images a tat soft. Are you using tripod?

[skatanic]

Originally Posted by DeSwitch Good for 1st attempt. I notice some blown whites (overexposed) esp on #1. Images a tat soft. Are you using tripod?

nope... handheld at focal length 300mm, aperture F/5.6, shutter speed 1/125

most of the images were shot at wide open aperture 5.6... i think i did too much brightness and contrast during PP... i read somewhere that if the subject is not sharp you can edit it by adjusting the brightness and contrast? is it true... or is there any sharpening ways or software?

sorry to slot in few questions... newbie noob here...

thanks for ur comments anyway..

[raptor84]

The sharpening tool is the UnsharpMask Filter in photoshop. Overdoing it will give rise to artifacts(spots) that make it look too fake. Not sure what other softwares have this feature.

[DeSwitch]

Probrably you are not used to the equipment you are using, hence some handshake causing the softness.

Software wise, if photo is not sharp, not much you can do about it. It is always better to be slightly underexpose than over expose because burnt details will never be recovered while underexposed details still can be recovered by PS.

USM (unsharp mask) helps in sharpening the image but as Raptor84 mention overdoing it will look fake and at the same time introduce more noise. CS2 and CS3 have smart sharpening feature that sharpen the edges. You can also do a highpass filter layer and overlay it on the original layer.

In photography, best is to get the photo right without using photoshop to correct it. That way you will improve faster.


Just my 2 cents thought

[dw2chan]

your pictures do not seem as sharp as they can be. this is most likely due to handshake.
remember a general guideline is that your focal length is the minimum shutter speed you should use handheld.

so in your case 1/300 of a sec should be your minimum. i usually play it safe and double it. so 1/600.

now of course this doesnt apply to IS lenses or if you use a monopod/tripod.

the 90-300 seems like a weird choice of lens... i'd recommend the 70-300 IS for the next time you go.

also try shooting at f8 to f11. that will probably give you the sharpest image.

with that said, i think your best image is #2. it is reasonably sharp and nicely composed. #3+4 have odd compositions and #1 is too soft for my liking.

keep it up!

[skatanic]

Thanks alots..... learn a lot from you guys....

[elmzarcega]

great job on your first ever attempt bro... generally your shots really suffer from handshake which caused it to be very soft... just like what other bros mentioned, stick to the general guide 1/focal length to capture sharp images and if possible use our best friend all the time (tripod)...
regarding the use of any software to sharpen your, there nothing you can do if your photos are really soft... i used USM just to boost its sharpness but not to push a soft image to make it look sharp... just my 2cents...

hope it helps... keep shooting bro... will be waiting more photos from you.....

[DeSwitch]

Generally, a prime lens will gives you sharper image. My 7 year old son is using a 40D and 400mm f5.6L to shoot this photo hand held.

[guakorn]

Originally Posted by elmzarcega great job on your first ever attempt bro... generally your shots really suffer from handshake which caused it to be very soft... just like what other bros mentioned, stick to the general guide 1/focal length to capture sharp images and if possible use our best friend all the time (tripod)... regarding the use of any software to sharpen your, there nothing you can do if your photos are really soft... i used USM just to boost its sharpness but not to push a soft image to make it look sharp... just my 2cents... hope it helps... keep shooting bro... will be waiting more photos from you.....

i'm a newbie also.. and want to try to shoot animal pictures... I have a d80, and 55-200 VR. I will take note of that general guide of 1/focal length on my first attempt.. tnx