Bird Feeder?

[jonjdoe]

C+c welcome!

[Dave Humphries]

Hi John,

Good composition and fair choice of camera settings (1/320, f/8, iso400, 200mm) except for two things; it is mis-focused (the feeder is sharper than the squirrel's eyes) and the exposure, which looks under.

It is quite noisy, possibly a combination of the under exposure and a fairly severe crop (to get the subject larger?)

One other PP problem - there is a wide halo around everything.

Was it shot RAW?

Rather than tell you stuff you may already know, please do ask about anything specific I have said and I, or another member, can answer questions.

Hope that helps,

[jonjdoe]

Thanks for the comments, Dave. It is a fairly severe crop, but also a LOT of USM. Trying to learn to do (at least some) after a crop. The focus was auto with IS, feeder was swaying with the squirrels weight, so I probably had him in focus and by the time I shot, the cage was in shot. I'm trying....

[FrankMi]

Thanks for the comments, Dave. It is a fairly severe crop, but also a LOT of USM. Trying to learn to do (at least some) after a crop. The focus was auto with IS, feeder was swaying with the squirrels weight, so I probably had him in focus and by the time I shot, the cage was in shot. I'm trying....

Rock on, John, you're doing fine. One way to tell if you are taking the USM too far is to look for halos at points of high contrast such as the squirell's nose and the bottom of the feeder pan. It's good to look for that indicator when you do the USM and if you see it just back off a tad to see if it clears.

[jonjdoe]

THKS, Frank

[jonjdoe]

Frank? Back off the amount? or pixels?

[FrankMi]

Frank? Back off the amount? or pixels?

Based on the starting settings I use, pixels, but there are a number of variables so it may be good to do some testing and observe the results.

Here are the Unsharp Mask Starter settings I use.

Capture Sharpening – Amount, 300%; Radius, 0.3 pixels; Threshold, 0

Artistic (or Creative) Sharpening – Amount, 40%, Radius, 4 pixels, Threshold, 0

Output Sharpening – Amount, 50-120%; Radius, 0.3 pixels; Threshold, usually less than 3 but not over 9

Colin has an excellent explanation of the values that are appropriate starting at post #6 in this thread Sharpening and Noise Reduction Sequence.

[jonjdoe]

Thanks again, Frank. The tutorial was very informative too!!!!!

[Geoff F]

The focus was auto with IS, feeder was swaying with the squirrels weight, so I probably had him in focus and by the time I shot, the cage was in shot.

This is a very common problem with this sort of shot, John.

Auto focus will always prefer to lock onto a hard edged object, like the cage, instead of a soft edged target, like an animal.

The only real answer is manual focus; but I know how difficult this is to achieve when your subject is moving.

ps. With a photo like this I would try to just sharpen the squirrel not the feeder. Use a duplicate image layer and mask then edit the mask with a soft edged brush so the sharpening is applied selectively.

[jonjdoe]

Thanks, Geoff.

[elfbob]

Recycling for the birds: 2 liter drink bottles can find a 2nd life as an impromptu bird feeder, even the perch is a "cured" piece of branch from trimmings

[jonjdoe]

Wow! Thanks Robert. I'll try this. I don't mind feeding squirrels, but I'm having a problem feeding birds because of the squirrels. Might be able to devise a way to make it harder on the squirrels.

[Geoff F]

But I do wonder how long it would take for a determined squirrel to rip that apart, John.

Incidentally, there are a range of squirrel proof feeders available which actually work. At least initially.

There are some examples here http://www.soarmillseeds.co.uk/cages-and-deterrents/

That is a small UK bird food producer where I purchase my seed. They are just a couple of miles from where I live; but I expect other companies produce something similar closer to where you live.