Some shots from SBWR for comments

[ccplim]

This is my virgin trip to SBWR and it made me reliased how tricky exposure can be with all those combinations from mother nature.

So, instead of posting nice pictures to get good comments, I am posting some of the WORST pictures instead in order to learn. Appreciate all those who are more experience can give some pointers as I should be going back there again very soon.

For those who are interested, the rest of the pictures can be found here.

Pic #1


Pic #2


Pic #3


Pic #4


Thank you!

[ETboy]

i like #2 so cute beisde the little plant

[chngpe01]

What time was these taken ? 10pm onwards? The lighting look harsh.

The first pic is over exposure and the white under parts of the bird is blown out.

Probably you may want to meter the grey mud. As most of the area is lighter in tone, if you meter the bird itself especially the sides or the darker parts of the bird, your meter will compensate and give you a value that will overexpose the surrounding light tone. Hence overall over exposed.

Hope it helps

[2100]

I saw many many photogs today at SBWR. Which one was you? I wearing camo hat.

Flying stuff is even worse, how do you meter at whatever part of the bird at 500mm (750 effective) trying to keep it in the center? For me, i try to remember exactly what EC to compensate for Egrets, Herons, shorebirds at which location so that i can switch between them fast. All i use is 3D Colour matrix, find that it is no use to use spot or centre weighted, you need to be very accurate (then i find that i cannot track flying stuff since they are all over the VF). Eg, Egret at Hide 2D i will use - 1.3EV, shorebirds is -0.3EV, if it's a particular darker kind i use 0EV. Flying stuff (other than Egrets) i can use 0EV safely, if i wanna push it i can use 0.3. But really must make it a point to change fast for flying stuff coz i usually would be more preoccupied with tracking it and going "OOOHH...AHH".

Hope it helps.

Hey, still no hits with Collared KF here.

[Newguy69]

Yo bro, you veri good life,... ? Me now work until no night no day how I wish I can cheong SBWR with you today!

Seem like your shots are a bit over exposed (I also encountered the same problem due to the harsh sunlight...should have gone in the late afternoon during the low tide and sunlight not so harsh). What I did it, I played around with the EV and WB and the later shots I took did turned out better. Btw, I like the handsome KF in pic 4.

Cheers

[chngpe01]

Originally Posted by 2100 Flying stuff is even worse, how do you meter at whatever part of the bird at 500mm (750 effective) trying to keep it in the center?

Its takes practice even for flight shots, you can track and adjust the EV at the same time with the right thumb or index finger using the comd or sub comd dial (at manual mode, Nikon).

[ccplim]

Originally Posted by chngpe01 What time was these taken ? 10pm onwards? The lighting look harsh. The first pic is over exposure and the white under parts of the bird is blown out. Probably you may want to meter the grey mud. As most of the area is lighter in tone, if you meter the bird itself especially the sides or the darker parts of the bird, your meter will compensate and give you a value that will overexpose the surrounding light tone. Hence overall over exposed. Hope it helps

Hi P.E.,

I guessed you are referring to 10am onwards? Those shots were taken sometime around 9.30am onwards cos that was the time where the birds start showing up. I reached there about 7.30am and waited but hardly get to see any of them in sight.

During that point of time, I am not sure if it helps if I were to meter the mud (will give that a try on my next visit) cos what I saw that day is very similar to what you can see from the picture. The sunlight reflected from the mud was so bright that it even confused my AF due to the similar contrast between the bird and the mud.

On the other hand, I was playing around with manual exposure and some of my shots even went up to f/32.

[ccplim]

Originally Posted by 2100 I saw many many photogs today at SBWR. Which one was you? I wearing camo hat. Flying stuff is even worse, how do you meter at whatever part of the bird at 500mm (750 effective) trying to keep it in the center? For me, i try to remember exactly what EC to compensate for Egrets, Herons, shorebirds at which location so that i can switch between them fast. All i use is 3D Colour matrix, find that it is no use to use spot or centre weighted, you need to be very accurate (then i find that i cannot track flying stuff since they are all over the VF). Eg, Egret at Hide 2D i will use - 1.3EV, shorebirds is -0.3EV, if it's a particular darker kind i use 0EV. Flying stuff (other than Egrets) i can use 0EV safely, if i wanna push it i can use 0.3. But really must make it a point to change fast for flying stuff coz i usually would be more preoccupied with tracking it and going "OOOHH...AHH". Hope it helps. Hey, still no hits with Collared KF here.

Ha bro, I went there when I was on leave last week. So, I am the only person in hide and get to choose which ever position I like

I didn't really use much compensation this time round as I was trying to get some correct exposure setting using manual instead.

Will try out your pointers in the next round.

Btw, I spotted about 4 KF that day but the one in my picture is the only one that stay still for a while for me to get some lousy shots.

[ccplim]

Originally Posted by Newguy69 Yo bro, you veri good life,... ? Me now work until no night no day how I wish I can cheong SBWR with you today! Seem like your shots are a bit over exposed (I also encountered the same problem due to the harsh sunlight...should have gone in the late afternoon during the low tide and sunlight not so harsh). What I did it, I played around with the EV and WB and the later shots I took did turned out better. Btw, I like the handsome KF in pic 4. Cheers

No lah bro. I hardly got chance to clear my leave but lucky that my boss managed to get someone to cover my duties. You will be free very soon right? We can chiong again after that

I was actually there very early but never expect the sunlight to be so harsh (it started to be that way since 8am). I did came across one location where the lighting is not so bad but all the birds were hiding under the shade and they were so far away. Furthermore, the locations where I can get a good viewpoint were all infested with red ants

[ccplim]

Originally Posted by chngpe01 Its takes practice even for flight shots, you can track and adjust the EV at the same time with the right thumb or index finger using the comd or sub comd dial (at manual mode, Nikon).

Huh..... does this include half pressing the shuttle release button to track the subject at the same time?

[2100]

Originally Posted by chngpe01 Its takes practice even for flight shots, you can track and adjust the EV at the same time with the right thumb or index finger using the comd or sub comd dial (at manual mode, Nikon).

Actually i was referring to that in center/spot, usually the exposure would be correct even for egrets (all white). I mean it won't be totally blown or extremely underexposed, a bit of PS will do the work. Just that tracking a moderate sized bird (eg little egret) at 750mm effective at 30m away and keep it in the centre (so that it meters ok, metering can go off very fast if you miss it and the background is dark, like mud or trees) is not easy esp since flying stuff window is like 4-5s. For my case, perhaps it's because i am usually shooting some static birds then suddenly the flying avian suddenly comes along. So it doesn't help that i was using ISO 200/400 for static and then a flying avian comes along. But if luck + skills gum gum ho, can have quite good panning shots though.

A big lumbering heron or stork would be easier to track, of coz.

[Zplus]

Seems a little over exposed. Maybe you can try exposure compensation?
Or faster shutter speeds.

[ccplim]

Originally Posted by Zplus Seems a little over exposed. Maybe you can try exposure compensation? Or faster shutter speeds.

Thanks bro! Will try that out during my next round. Still got alot more to learn from you guys

[jbma]

Nice attemp bro. A bit over expose. I had a difficult time trying to meter my shots of these buggers as they are the same color as the mud. Personally I prefer to underexpose rather than overexpose as former can be corrected with PS without losing too much details. Just my opinion.

[ccplim]

Originally Posted by jbma Nice attemp bro. A bit over expose. I had a difficult time trying to meter my shots of these buggers as they are the same color as the mud. Personally I prefer to underexpose rather than overexpose as former can be corrected with PS without losing too much details. Just my opinion.

Thanks bro! Not only that the metering is tricky. The contrast between the bird and the mud was also causing a confusion to my AF. I actually did alot of MF this time round cos the AF just couldn't stop hunting.

[jbma]

Originally Posted by ccplim Thanks bro! Not only that the metering is tricky. The contrast between the bird and the mud was also causing a confusion to my AF. I actually did alot of MF this time round cos the AF just couldn't stop hunting.

Were you using the TC? If yes which one?

[ccplim]

Originally Posted by jbma Were you using the TC? If yes which one?

Most of the smaller birds (including the KF) were taken using the 1.4x.

[chngpe01]

Originally Posted by 2100 Just that tracking a moderate sized bird (eg little egret) at 750mm effective at 30m away and keep it in the centre (so that it meters ok, metering can go off very fast if you miss it and the background is dark, like mud or trees) is not easy esp since flying stuff window is like 4-5s....

Yes agree, that's the challenge in itself, cos the AF(regardless of how advanced/model of camera) may not be able to track it. In this instant usually MF can do the trick. Usually when I look into the viewfinder, I also take note of not only the composition but also the exposure meter too. As I use manual mode mostly, I would adjust the EV ie either thru up/down the aperture or or speed at the same time. However it would also be esaier to set to either Aperture or Speed priority and that would take the adjusting the exposure problem out of your mind in this instance. Guess it boilds down to practise, practise. You can see an example in this series of fast flying terns taken with manual focusing set to Aperture Priority. http://www.pbase.com/chngpe01/terns_in_singapore

ccplim, as for reading the exposure, I was refering to taking a reading from the 'grey mud' guess if the mud not grey due to the reflection than it may not be a good reading. As to the timing I was just checking if it could be more the harsh sun or whether it is a matter of overexposure under good lighting condition. Hence 10pm was use as a usual benchmark, not that I could see a picture and guess to within +- 1/2 hr when the shot is taken.
How one's get the exposure correct is a matter of preference as long as you know why the exposure behave in certain ways, when it is set at certain setting. Some may use matrix metering and prefer Aperture Priority, or Speed priority or some (like me) prefer manual. It owns preference and comfort as long as the shot is pleasing and you like it.

Cheers

[ccplim]

Originally Posted by chngpe01 Yes agree, that's the challenge in itself, cos the AF(regardless of how advanced/model of camera) may not be able to track it. In this instant usually MF can do the trick. Usually when I look into the viewfinder, I also take note of not only the composition but also the exposure meter too. As I use manual mode mostly, I would adjust the EV ie either thru up/down the aperture or or speed at the same time. However it would also be esaier to set to either Aperture or Speed priority and that would take the adjusting the exposure problem out of your mind in this instance. Guess it boilds down to practise, practise. You can see an example in this series of fast flying terns taken with manual focusing set to Aperture Priority. http://www.pbase.com/chngpe01/terns_in_singapore ccplim, as for reading the exposure, I was refering to taking a reading from the 'grey mud' guess if the mud not grey due to the reflection than it may not be a good reading. As to the timing I was just checking if it could be more the harsh sun or whether it is a matter of overexposure under good lighting condition. Hence 10pm was use as a usual benchmark, not that I could see a picture and guess to within +- 1/2 hr when the shot is taken. How one's get the exposure correct is a matter of preference as long as you know why the exposure behave in certain ways, when it is set at certain setting. Some may use matrix metering and prefer Aperture Priority, or Speed priority or some (like me) prefer manual. It owns preference and comfort as long as the shot is pleasing and you like it. Cheers

Thanks P.E.! The exposure of the mud that day was terrible. So I guessed that was a real challange. I have also noticed that I now prefer to take my first few shots using aperture priority and from there, slowly adjust my settings in manual.

And aiyo bro, you still didn't get my point and made the same mistake. Why I mentioned the time in my previous reply is because you typed 10pm instead of 10am Hmm..... am I using special camera to get such exposure at 10pm

[2100]

Wow....manual focus is going to be hard to master. But that is another challenge which is why we are going to shoot again! Else it gets boring eh?