Sharp birding photos?

[DeSwitch]

Your strokbill kingfisher is at least 4 times bigger than the Blue ear Kingfisher I shot.


Your focusing may have been affected by the twigs in front of the bird. with wrong direction of lighting, your sensor had metered the light behind the bird which is the white patches you see giving you a wrong reading and hence a darker photo. Looks like Sungei Buluh WR at the main bridge. The colour of the bird is also lost. cant see the blue on the wing.

See this example of the same bird you shot. with good BG(background), lighting source behind you, its easier to get focus lock and sharper image.

 

[knpan]

Your strokbill kingfisher is at least 4 times bigger than the Blue ear Kingfisher I shot.


Your focusing may have been affected by the twigs in front of the bird. with wrong direction of lighting, your sensor had metered the light behind the bird which is the white patches you see giving you a wrong reading and hence a darker photo. Looks like Sungei Buluh WR at the main bridge. The colour of the bird is also lost. cant see the blue on the wing.

See this example of the same bird you shot. with good BG(background), lighting source behind you, its easier to get focus lock and sharper image.

calvin your old shot power :thumbsup: i remember this :bsmilie:

 

[chalib]

Your strokbill kingfisher is at least 4 times bigger than the Blue ear Kingfisher I shot.


Your focusing may have been affected by the twigs in front of the bird. with wrong direction of lighting, your sensor had metered the light behind the bird which is the white patches you see giving you a wrong reading and hence a darker photo. Looks like Sungei Buluh WR at the main bridge. The colour of the bird is also lost. cant see the blue on the wing.

See this example of the same bird you shot. with good BG(background), lighting source behind you, its easier to get focus lock and sharper image.

How far are you from the bird?

Do you use beamer for your flash?

The catchlight really nice

 

[Netbaby]

Your strokbill kingfisher is at least 4 times bigger than the Blue ear Kingfisher I shot.


Your focusing may have been affected by the twigs in front of the bird. with wrong direction of lighting, your sensor had metered the light behind the bird which is the white patches you see giving you a wrong reading and hence a darker photo. Looks like Sungei Buluh WR at the main bridge. The colour of the bird is also lost. cant see the blue on the wing.

See this example of the same bird you shot. with good BG(background), lighting source behind you, its easier to get focus lock and sharper image.

This is a good shot from the 400mm f5.6. Love it!

 

[Reno]

in what way(s) is my lighting and exposure control not quite correct? please enlighten.. thanks..

The main cause which i suspect is the strong backlight and the metering setting on your camera. The strong backlight causes your camera to meter in such the way that your background is properly exposure which results your subject (bird) to be underexposed. Your underexposed subject (bird) will lose a lot of details and sharpness. Also the twigs that blocking the bird is erh.... irritating to me (sorry for such comments).

Not sure for the rest of the birders, usually i would use spot metering when birding as my main concern is the correct exposure on the bird and i would look for a darker background for the bird where i have to reposition myself. Deswitch's shot on the stock billed kingfisher is a very good example on proper exposure and selecting of a better, darker and clearer background, this will make your bird more outstanding.

if you unable to find a good background, at least make sure the bird is not block by any leaves or twig. If your background still have strong backlight, you need to use stronger flash to compensate the lightings, however stronger flash may irritates the bird which may cause the bird to fly away before you get any better shots.

below is my photo of the stork billed kingfisher, messy background but at least my subject is not block by anything and no strong backlight.

 

[DeSwitch]

if you are talking about the storkbill, I'm about 10 to 15m away. Cant remembered if I used flash but most probrably not as I have enough lights. This was shot almost 2 years ago when I was still learning. Nowadays, I hardly use flash even in dim light. Only use in situation where there is no other angle and there is backlight. or some birds need a bit of flash to bring out its colours. Some birds' colours will totally change if flashed so NO NO for that like the Blue ear Kingfisher in my earlier post. (was still a newbie then). Now my flash is on manual control ranging from 1/64 to 1/8 power. depending on situation.

I "threw away" my Beamer 1 year ago, useless to me. My theory is, most of our flash have GN of about 60M. If birds is at this range, no point shooting. You can hardly get good photo if your subject is so far away, only record shots.


To TS, sorry for OT.

 

[chalib]

if you are talking about the storkbill, I'm about 10 to 15m away. Cant remembered if I used flash but most probrably not as I have enough lights. This was shot almost 2 years ago when I was still learning. Nowadays, I hardly use flash even in dim light. Only use in situation where there is no other angle and there is backlight. or some birds need a bit of flash to bring out its colours. Some birds' colours will totally change if flashed so NO NO for that like the Blue ear Kingfisher in my earlier post. (was still a newbie then). Now my flash is on manual control ranging from 1/64 to 1/8 power. depending on situation.

I "threw away" my Beamer 1 year ago, useless to me. My theory is, most of our flash have GN of about 60M. If birds is at this range, no point shooting. You can hardly get good photo if your subject is so far away, only record shots.


To TS, sorry for OT.

Thks for the explanation :lovegrin:

 

[pinholecam]

Thanks for sharing valuable techniques.
I always wonder how do such good shots like yours get such vantage points. The bird is at a low angle, seemly at the same level to the camera (as opposed to down > up when a bird is on a tree). Any tips to share on this? thx

 

[Netbaby]

Thanks for sharing valuable techniques.
I always wonder how do such good shots like yours get such vantage points. The bird is at a low angle, seemly at the same level to the camera (as opposed to down > up when a bird is on a tree). Any tips to share on this? thx

Low angle and shooting parallel to the subject its by opportunity and chances.
Observation of the habit is also important.

 

[DeSwitch]

Stand further away will also reduce you angle. Dont have to go so near to the bird. If bird is too high, wait for opportunity for it to come lower. If they are comfortable with your presence, it will even walk under your feets. The tricks are so simple, slow and no sudden movements. No loud noise and striking clothings. Learn to know when to approach and when to retreat.

 

[calvinklein]

Sunlight contributes to sharpness. Strong natural sunlight will be able to bring out the sharpness n crisp of the object as compared to cloudy days etc. or you can use a low lighting lens to compensate for the loss of brightness.

 

[wolfcry91]

I see I see, wow thanks everyone for the many tips and advice..

Just a few questions, how do I get the light behind me if it's impossible? Like eg, im on the bridge at sungei buloh, and the bird is somewhere across the water?
And if there's strong backlight, is it a must to use flash?

And to Reno, no worries, I find the twigs super irritating too.. haha.. but the bird was all covered with them, there was no other angle lehh.. ):

 

[Reno]

I see I see, wow thanks everyone for the many tips and advice..

Just a few questions, how do I get the light behind me if it's impossible? Like eg, im on the bridge at sungei buloh, and the bird is somewhere across the water?
And if there's strong backlight, is it a must to use flash?

And to Reno, no worries, I find the twigs super irritating too.. haha.. but the bird was all covered with them, there was no other angle lehh.. ):

usually i would avoid to shoot if there is a strong backlight unless the bird is super rare like the finfoot... else i would wait for other better opportunity.

 

[Reno]

strong sunlight will ruin the photo as the light is too harsh... best timing is either very early in the morning and very late afternoon before sunset.... also when shooting birds.... dun just blinding go after the bird..... observe the bird first before approach them to take their photo....

 

[Netbaby]

a... sometime arh...
Very nice perch but bad lighting...
HDR! ;p

 

[pinholecam]

Low angle and shooting parallel to the subject its by opportunity and chances.
Observation of the habit is also important.

Stand further away will also reduce you angle. Dont have to go so near to the bird. If bird is too high, wait for opportunity for it to come lower. If they are comfortable with your presence, it will even walk under your feets. The tricks are so simple, slow and no sudden movements. No loud noise and striking clothings. Learn to know when to approach and when to retreat.

Thanks for the tips.
Looks like I gotta bring out those SAF camo uniform that I had in cold storage