Improving???
Am I getting any better at this?
The birds are cooperating a bit more out at my feeder and are letting me get much closer to them. I am also aiming to focus on their heads more. They are so flitty at times, it's hard.
The first two were done with my Nikon D50, Sigma 70-200 f2.8 lens. Shot at 200mm f2.8, 1/400, ISO 200 WB set for "shade" mode.
Nothing done to them except crop and resize to post them here.
Carolina Chickadee....
This last shot is done at 200mm, f3.5, 1/160, ISO200
The birds are cooperating a bit more out at my feeder and are letting me get much closer to them. I am also aiming to focus on their heads more. They are so flitty at times, it's hard.
The first two were done with my Nikon D50, Sigma 70-200 f2.8 lens. Shot at 200mm f2.8, 1/400, ISO 200 WB set for "shade" mode.
Nothing done to them except crop and resize to post them here.
Carolina Chickadee....
This last shot is done at 200mm, f3.5, 1/160, ISO200
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Comments
Yes! These look very nice! You have also chosen a difficult subject
Are you using the histogram on the D50? This may help alot and I know without it I would be lost!
-j
you choose well .... your exp the light you shot in and your focus show a marked improvement!!
I personally like the last one best, man you even got "Bokah" Baby !!
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I am shooting and shooting and shooting... and thinking about our Ginger wearing our her camera shutter. I hope mine lasts a while yet
Forgot to add. I am shooting in Manual focus as well. I just seem to do it a bit better than the camera is doing.
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How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
The birds looks great, sharp and with excellent details. What was your WB on the shot?
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How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
I think all of the shots could be a little cooler (not so yellow), but that's a matter of taste and doesn't detract from these good shots.:D
Harry, I had the WB set on "shade". With that setting on it does yellow up the shots. I don't have a lot of WB to play with ... off the top of my head I think the settings are "shade" "direct sunlite" "cloudy" "incandesant" ... I think there's one more on there... and Auto.
The area where I've been shooting these birds is heavily shaded in my backyard.
You probably should have gone with the cloudy setting. I have always found Nikon's 'Shade" WB to be way too strong. The next time you shoot, do me a favor. Take 2-3 shots in RAW. If you had shot in RAW you could have adjusted your WB settings during the RAW conversion.
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How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
I have shot in RAW. Got some shots of deer laying in the underbrush behind my barn but when I processed them I was not happy at all with the results. I am using the Nikon Picture Project to convert (it came with the camera). Someone suggested a freebie RAW converter and I tried downloading it, but I'm on dial-up and it took too long and kept dropping....
I'm sure the RAW conversions I wasn't happy with are my fault as I really don't know what all I'm doing yet...
And histograms kinda scare me at this point... I'm really not sure what I'm looking at or why.
I am pathetically un-technical.. but trying
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Harry,
You don't need to shoot raw to adjust WB in post. I can do it on JPEG's with DXO Optics Pro or use iCorrect Pro plugin with my image editor. That's why I seldom worry about WB while shooting. With one click I can adjust this shot to proper WB just by clicking a known white or neutral area such as the Chickadees throat feathers.
Its time for me to get on my :soapbox
I've used DXO and other plug-ins on jpegs and they do ok but its much easier and effective in RAW. I am always careful about my WB when shooting. If you blow out a color channel the shot will be screwed no matter what you do later on. If you don't believe me set your WB to flash or tungsten lighting and shoot a bunch of wildlife shots in natural light. :eek1
PS and all the varied software programs out there are fantastic and I love them all and own many of them also. They can improve a well exposed shot with the correct WB. They can't save a shot that was poorly composed or where the settings were screwed up. The results you get are so much better if use the proper settings than when you are trying to recover from poor exposure or inaccurate settings.
End of sermon and we will return you to your regular programming.
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How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
Oh..I don't doubt you one bit.
I always use AWB and these tools have done the trick for me. I am not a big fan of raw and think it's benefits are exaggerated.
Now don't get me wrong raw does has it's advantages....but it has downsides too. Longer workflow...more storage...fewer shots in the field.....
AWB depends on the camera. I wasn't crazy about it on my D2H or my D100 but I use it most of the time on my D2X. Right now I'm experimenting with setting the Kelvin temp myself and I will probably start doing that regularly soon.
Of course the benefits of RAW are exaggerated but so are its downsides. I find that its actually faster than when I shot jpegs. I use Nikon Capture which lets me save pre-sets. I have a preset for different ISO ranges which also applies basic sharpening and a curve to the pic with one click of the mouse. I then adjust the exposure and enhance the color which is two mouse clicks. I then open the shot in PS and finish my post work.
If i was a pro shooting weddings for a living I would shoot in jpeg and batch process them. Fortunately I don't have those time pressues, you might have heard that I'm retired.
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How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
Harry, there are so many ways to skin a cat! If something works for you...do it. I am always willing to look at new ways.....it's just that I've wasted money in the past by jumping on this bandwagon or that. I finally have the tools I'm comfortable with.....and I don't always skin that cat the same way every time myself.
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Raian, what kind of photoshop are you working with?
There are ways to warm up, or cool down photos with photoshop. I Have CS2, but there are other ways, I am certain. Just the hue slider in saturation should be on most programs. If you don't like what is happening, just click on cancel.
ginger (Yeah, right on! Little birds are hard IMO. The absolute worst and hardest to shoot!) You did very good!
Oh, I was on those main garden lakes with the white bridges over them. In fact I sat on the back bridge for a long time to let the bird get used to me..
That is one thing I have no control over: what birds are in that area. I have seen Gr White Egrets before, but later on, and they always fly away.
I feel quite fortunate when I see any bird I can photograph in either of those areas. Last time, a year or so ago, it was a Little Blue Heron. A Great White Egret is better............and especially the way things played out. I had to keep my ISO fairly high. I hope I got a clear shot of him with a fish. I know I have a shot, just don't know if it is clear.
Thanks for sharing.
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