Jurong Bird Park 300804 - Rainman

rainman · 31st August 2004

Hi all,
My very first attempt at nature shoot...Weather is good over at JBP, no problems with setting shutter speed more than 500. Still learning how to take good pictures over high contrast background and flash photography. Especially birds hiding at the canopy. It was not easy at all!

My setup for the day 100-300 F4 1.4X TC and 28-105.

My comrades for the day (PinkFuzzyCat,elninowt and andy (forget his nick

))

PinkFuzzyCat with big lens big monopod

Welcome any comments! Thanks.

rainman · 31st August 2004

Few of my fav shots

To view my full gallery for the day.
http://photobucket.com/albums/v208/r...00804/?start=0

elninowt · 31st August 2004

wah seh!!! so fast sia...

somemore post up group pic first sia.. hehe

i just got home man.. think i can only get my pics up tomorrow...

cheers!!!!

I got a similar one of the owl too.. nice freeze shot of the bugger flying thought...

now IDing is sure to be a problem for us man.. wonder if anyone can help out..??

Will03 · 31st August 2004

hey my friend ! i like your owl !

Newman · 31st August 2004

The owl shot is nice.

But it would be better if it was done in portrait mode to avoid the bad cropping.

elninowt · 31st August 2004

Wah Seh.. Tired Man..!!

Done up my pics liao..

comments comments!!!!!

Thanks

Pic 1

Pic2

Pic3

Pic4

elninowt · 31st August 2004

a few more

Pic5

Pic6

Pic7

Pic8

Pic9

Link to my almost empty "Album"

Iceman27 · 31st August 2004

Rainmain, like your first pic. Pity on the cropping though.

elninowt, like your first pic. too. It works for me.

Cheers!

jbma · 31st August 2004

Rainman, agree with the rest. Should not have crop the own. Would be nice to have the whole pic.

Elninowt, some of the shots are underexpose and abit soft. Colors are good though.

Keep on shooting guys.

chunger · 31st August 2004

Originally Posted by rainman

This animal is what name? It look as if it got a very great ambitions ahead of him. Cool

This look great

elninowt · 31st August 2004

its called a meerkat.. There are a few different species of meerkats but it belongs to the mongoose family if i'm not wrong.

elninowt · 31st August 2004

Originally Posted by jbma

Rainman, agree with the rest. Should not have crop the own. Would be nice to have the whole pic.

Elninowt, some of the shots are underexpose and abit soft. Colors are good though.

Keep on shooting guys.

Thanks for the comments jbma.... did have some exposure problems. wasn't shooting with an external flash cos no money to buy!!!
hehe

so was using the built in flash of the 300D. very often its either wash out, or the flash has no effect at all.. damn it..
gotta get one of those sigma flashes that rainman was using. cheaper solution to the 550EX.. no money no money!!

as for the softness, wondering if its due to the lens? (haha.. blame the equipment..) its a 75-300 4/5.6 IS USM with IS on... was shooting in the range of 1/100 to 1/300 shutter speeds. from my understanding pictures do get quite soft to the tele end of the lens with the aperature wide open. but i'm still quite new to photography. only been shooting for a month or so.

Advice?

rainman · 31st August 2004

Hi all..thanks for all the kind kind kind comments!

Yah, a pity that I didn't manage to get the whole body protrait of the owl. Most of the closeup headshots are left uncropped or very minor cropped..too used in shooting closeup and forgot abt the composition...hehe. Will bear that in mind.

Low light and high contrast photography was a headache. Try out different combinations..direct flash, bounced flash with card or diffuser, higher ISO but the result wasn't that desire. Probably need a better lens?

Anyone can advice on high contrast pics? A pity that I didn't get these 2 right.

jbma · 31st August 2004

Aiyah wish I was there. But had to work.

rainman · 31st August 2004

Originally Posted by jbma

Aiyah wish I was there. But had to work.

Its okie Jbma...the best is always yet to come!

Looking forward to shoot with u too!

2100 · 31st August 2004

Originally Posted by rainman

Anyone can advice on high contrast pics? A pity that I didn't get these 2 right.

Just dial in more exposure compensation (as much as 1 to 2 stops more), or take note of exposure in aperture priority and use manual. Boils down to your technique.

Look in my gallery. What you get is like a high-key effect. http://www.pbase.com/sil79/inbox

To avoid blown areas in the head area, look for blinking highlights.

rainman · 31st August 2004

Thanks 2100 for ur valuable advice. Will try that out for the next shooting...

Anyway that a circular polariser will help in getting the clear blue sky?

2100 · 31st August 2004

Originally Posted by rainman

Thanks 2100 for ur valuable advice. Will try that out for the next shooting...

Anyway that a circular polariser will help in getting the clear blue sky?

Yup, would be good, there won't be much extraneous reflections from the flat clouds as shown in your pic. But a cir-pl from Hoya will cut down light by around 1+ stop, so hopefully good lighting will fall on the bird or you won't get a good shutter speed (ie sharp pics), or you boost ISO.

Better cir-pl from B+W will not suffer from so much light drop though.

rainman · 31st August 2004

Another of my fav....hehe

elninowt · 31st August 2004

mmmm.... i have 1 of a full composition of the Malayan Owl.. but not as sharp.. wasn't on flash too as it was simply too far... *hiazzz*

will post up later for viewing...

31st August 2004	#1
rainman Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: In my own world Posts: 1,112	Jurong Bird Park 300804 - Rainman Hi all, My very first attempt at nature shoot...Weather is good over at JBP, no problems with setting shutter speed more than 500. Still learning how to take good pictures over high contrast background and flash photography. Especially birds hiding at the canopy. It was not easy at all! My setup for the day 100-300 F4 1.4X TC and 28-105. My comrades for the day (PinkFuzzyCat,elninowt and andy (forget his nick )) PinkFuzzyCat with big lens big monopod Welcome any comments! Thanks. Last edited by rainman; 31st August 2004 at 12:43 AM.

31st August 2004	#7
elninowt Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 169	a few more Pic5 Pic6 Pic7 Pic8 Pic9 Link to my almost empty "Album" Last edited by elninowt; 31st August 2004 at 03:12 AM.

31st August 2004	#2
rainman Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: In my own world Posts: 1,112	Few of my fav shots To view my full gallery for the day. http://photobucket.com/albums/v208/r...00804/?start=0

31st August 2004	#4
Will03 Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 4,411	hey my friend ! i like your owl !

31st August 2004	#5
Newman Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: TBC Posts: 954	The owl shot is nice. But it would be better if it was done in portrait mode to avoid the bad cropping.

31st August 2004	#8
Iceman27 Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 265	Rainmain, like your first pic. Pity on the cropping though. elninowt, like your first pic. too. It works for me. Cheers!

31st August 2004	#9
jbma Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Tampines Posts: 3,315	Rainman, agree with the rest. Should not have crop the own. Would be nice to have the whole pic. Elninowt, some of the shots are underexpose and abit soft. Colors are good though. Keep on shooting guys.