Birds, Need Critiques Please

Mike-Photos · April 24, 2005

Hi There
Getting to grips with my DSLR, my lenses, and my RAW software. So, with three areas where things can go wrong, a bit of advice and critique would help:

jsmason · April 24, 2005

Great Detail!

Mike-Photos wrote:

Hi There
Getting to grips with my DSLR, my lenses, and my RAW software. So, with three areas where things can go wrong, a bit of advice and critique would help:

I have to say that I am rather new to a DSLR and RAW software myself. I have had a Nikon D70 and Tamron 28-300 lens for just a few months. Prior to that I used a Nikon E5700, a good camera, but not at the level of a DSLR.

I am very impressed with your photos. The detail is incredible. I would be happy to give constructive feedback if I had something to say that was constructive. All I can say is great job!

Stan

Mike-Photos · April 24, 2005

Hi Stan...
Thanks for your flattering comments. I must say I am VERY pleased with my camera (Konica Minolta 7D). Besides anything else, Anti-Shake in the body of the camera means that every lens is stabilised, and it really works, as you can see.

GREAPER · April 24, 2005

Great detail, nice compositions. The eyes are well done.

MuskyDude · April 24, 2005

If your asking on how to improve these I'm sorry, but I don't think you can. IMHO they are about perfect! The details are fantastic!

AJ

Mike-Photos · April 24, 2005

Hi Greaper...
Thanks.

Mike-Photos · April 24, 2005

Hi AJ

MuskyDude wrote:

If your asking on how to improve these I'm sorry, but I don't think you can. IMHO they are about perfect! The details are fantastic!

AJ

Thanks for your kind comments.

jthomas · April 24, 2005

Mike-Photos wrote:

Hi There
Getting to grips with my DSLR, my lenses, and my RAW software. So, with three areas where things can go wrong, a bit of advice and critique would help:

I think they're all excellent - very sharp. One minor quibble might be that in the goose shot (#3), the head is a bit soft - looks like you focussed on the body. I think a focus on the head might improve it slightly.

jthomas · April 24, 2005

jsmason wrote:

I have to say that I am rather new to a DSLR and RAW software myself. I have had a Nikon D70 and Tamron 28-300 lens for just a few months. Prior to that I used a Nikon E5700, a good camera, but not at the level of a DSLR.

I am very impressed with your photos. The detail is incredible. I would be happy to give constructive feedback if I had something to say that was constructive. All I can say is great job!

Stan

Stan, looks like we have a lot in common. My progression in digital photography was Nikon CP775 (2002) -> Nikon CP4300 (2003) -> Nikon CP5700 (2004) -> Nikon D70 (2005). My wife says the buck stops here

.

I was very frustrated with the 5700. The controls were awkward, the focus inconsistent, manual focus terrible, etc. I did like the compact size and the 8x zoom. I got the D70 on April 4, and haven't picked up the 5700 since!

My wife still uses the 4300, and I continue to be amazed at the quality of the pictures she gets, just using the automatic setting. But nothing compares to the D70, IMHO

.

Phil U. · April 24, 2005

jthomas wrote:

I think they're all excellent - very sharp. One minor quibble might be that in the goose shot (#3), the head is a bit soft - looks like you focussed on the body. I think a focus on the head might improve it slightly.

I especially like #2 - nice lighting & comp. Sharp and nice detail.

Mike-Photos · April 25, 2005

Hi JThomas...

jthomas wrote:

I think they're all excellent - very sharp. One minor quibble might be that in the goose shot (#3), the head is a bit soft - looks like you focussed on the body. I think a focus on the head might improve it slightly.

Thanks for commenting. I was trying out the camera's anti-shake when I took this photo, so the speed was 1/30th. Probably there was movement in the head area.

However, I agree I focussed on the body. Although I would generally always focus on the head, is it correct in this case? I thought it would be better to ensure the body, which contains far more detail, has the absolute focus. Also, I wanted to ensure the body was exposed correctly.

Hawkman · April 25, 2005

Comments
They are all very nice with nice detail. The last goose eye is not in focus however. One other suggestion: shoot from a lower angle so you are not looking down at the subject, but are at eye level.

Cheers,
Gene

Harryb · April 25, 2005

Hey Mike,

Outstanding

The head on the goose is soft as others have indicated. What was your aperture setting for that shot?

Mike-Photos · April 25, 2005

Hi Gene...

Hawkman wrote:

They are all very nice with nice detail. The last goose eye is not in focus however. One other suggestion: shoot from a lower angle so you are not looking down at the subject, but are at eye level.

Cheers,
Gene

Thanks for the useful advice!

Mike-Photos · April 25, 2005

Hi Harry...

Harryb wrote:

Hey Mike,

Outstanding The head on the goose is soft as others have indicated. What was your aperture setting for that shot?

It was F/4.5 - I was testing the anti-shake on the camera, and the speed was 1/30th, which I think caused the problem because of some head movement.

1/30th isn't bad at all - could hardly ever get anything usable at this speed before.

Harryb · April 25, 2005

Mike-Photos wrote:

It was F/4.5 - I was testing the anti-shake on the camera, and the speed was 1/30th, which I think caused the problem because of some head movement.

1/30th isn't bad at all - could hardly ever get anything usable at this speed before.

Wow, that anti-shake is very effective. 4.5 is a fairly shallow dof. You probably focused on the body and the softness on the head is very likely due to that.