Bird Practice

[Stagecoach]

I have been a bit quiet here and with my photography recently due to some heavy commitments but just had to force myself out with the camera today. My objective was to sit at the foreshore in the sun and shoot whatever was around, practice technique of getting these things within the frame and assess exposure control so here's some results.

All shot using Matrix Metering, EC+0.7EV, AF Area Mode Dynamic 9 point with the Tamron 70-300 Non VR with steam driven AF.

No 1 - 1/1250, f/7.1, ISO640, 300mm, cropped


No 2 - 1/1000, f/6.3, ISO450, 300mm, uncropped


No 3 - 1/1000, f/5.6, ISO640, 300mm, uncropped


No 4 - 1/1000, f/5.6, ISO200, 300mm, uncropped but sky removed from left and added to right side



Nos 3 & 4 taken at max aperture just to see what results it gave and also assess DoF at the distance for these herons.

Grahame

[IzzieK]

Very good experiment, Grahame...sometimes I tend to do just that but time is not on my side at the moment...to much life going on...you are spot on #1 here....good pose for this little fella who has a bad hair day; the rest are OK too for the reach of your lens. Very nice shots all...as usual coming from you.. I like the light on the face of #4...something about light that makes the photograph. (and oh, not to mention the photographer too...)

[Shadowman]

Nice series.

[bnnrcn]

Nice trials

[Barbara Ponder]

Grahame, great shots now I want to know what they are! They look somewhat similar to birds here but different! I have no idea what the first one is.

[Stagecoach]

Izzie, John, Binnur and Barbara

Thanks for commenting on my practice pieces

Barbara, the first bird is a Mynah bird which are the most common small species here. Many consider them pests but I find them fun due to their boisterous nature but always seem to grab a tatty looking one to photograph

The other three are herons/egrets and I'm only just starting to recognise the difference in them, there's the obvious all black, all white and all grey ones but I'm noticing subtle differences in the grey ones now. Unfortunately there's limited detailed information on our wildlife here available easily.

As for the practising and trials I'm certainly learning and something I must concentrate on is changing settings quickly between static and in flight subjects.

[dje]

Good effort Grahame. That little fellow in the first shot sure looks like he's been in a few scraps, in fact he looks punch drunk.

It might be worth trying reducing the highlights or increasing the contrast a bit in #3. It's a good clear shot.

Dave

[Brownbear]

Hi Grahame,

Great effort! The Mynah bird is beautifully sharp and detailed, and oh, so adorable. The third image is also beautifully sharp. I think it is a tri-coloured heron but not as colourful as the ones I've seen in Mexico. The in flights look like Great Blue Herons to me. I think you would've nailed the last in flight image with a little bit of a faster shutter speed.

I find All About Birds very handy for identifying birds and basic information.

Here are a couple of links..

Herons

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Blue_Heron/id

Egrets

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Snowy_Egret/id

[JBW]

One of these days when i get myself educated I just may understand all of your tech talk about what you are shooting with. But for now you have really piqued my curiosity so if you have the time could you explain what 'steam driven AF.' is?

[redrew]

Yes, I also would like to know more about a steam driven AF, is it coal fired, nuclear etc.?

[Nicks Pics]

Grahame, these are not quite as nice photos as some, but not worse than mine, on average. I so think that the last one though, is a genuine nice shot. I would play with an unsharp mask to make the details stand out better, if it were mine, but the exposure and pose is very acceptable. The other heron is nice as well.

[Stagecoach]

Good effort Grahame. That little fellow in the first shot sure looks like he's been in a few scraps, in fact he looks punch drunk.

It might be worth trying reducing the highlights or increasing the contrast a bit in #3. It's a good clear shot.

Dave

Thanks Dave, tatty birds are becoming my speciality, perhaps they are slower and easier

I can have a go at No 3 but to be honest it's not a very good background.

[Stagecoach]

Hi Grahame,

Great effort! The Mynah bird is beautifully sharp and detailed, and oh, so adorable. The third image is also beautifully sharp. I think it is a tri-coloured heron but not as colourful as the ones I've seen in Mexico. The in flights look like Great Blue Herons to me. I think you would've nailed the last in flight image with a little bit of a faster shutter speed.

I find All About Birds very handy for identifying birds and basic information.

Here are a couple of links..

Herons

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Blue_Heron/id

Egrets

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Snowy_Egret/id

Hi Christina,

Thanks for looking and commenting on my 'progress' What I liked about the simple Mynah bird was the setting and background. The little fella kept jumping up on the seawall, looking down at the tide coming in, changing his mind and jumping back onto the path. I'm easily amused by such things

I'm getting more adept at settings but was deliberately playing with things to see the results, ideally for the No 4 in-flight shot I could have stopped down slightly and increased speed at the cost of ISO but my inquisitiveness at present is causing me to experiment. In a weeks time hopefully my now ordered new Nikon 80-400VR will arrive and I'll already have a set of benchmark trial shots to measure it's performance against.

Those links will be a great help to me, thanks.

Grahame

[Stagecoach]

One of these days when i get myself educated I just may understand all of your tech talk about what you are shooting with. But for now you have really piqued my curiosity so if you have the time could you explain what 'steam driven AF.' is?

Yes, I also would like to know more about a steam driven AF, is it coal fired, nuclear etc.?

Brian, Rollin

My engineering terminology of the Auto Focus being 'steam driven' is with regard to its speed of response which is slow on this lens. The consequence being in that if AF target is lost on getting the bird back to within the frame it takes the lens a long time to adjust and lock focus again.

This is not a criticism of this specific lens, it is what it is and not ideal for BIF.

[Stagecoach]

Grahame, these are not quite as nice photos as some, but not worse than mine, on average. I so think that the last one though, is a genuine nice shot. I would play with an unsharp mask to make the details stand out better, if it were mine, but the exposure and pose is very acceptable. The other heron is nice as well.

Nick, I have sharpened all shots with my usual Unsharp Mask procedures of full size in LAB mode and then again once downsized.

The softer shots here were taken with the lens both at max FL and max aperture which is not a recipe for sharpness on a cheap lens and the detail simply is not there to enhance. If I push things more I would start to see halos, a no no.

No 4 whilst a good capture for a novice IMO is ruined by the dark shadow which is another area I'm starting to become aware of which is an unfortunate consequence of having great lighting conditions to use ideal settings

[Wavelength]

Nice images

[Stagecoach]

Nice images

Thank you Nandakumar

[Rebel]

Nice shots Grahame, I like #1 best.

[Suzan J]

Hello Grahame: I really can't add anything to what has already been said, but I did want to say that I do enjoy bird pics in general, especially those from another part of the world. I think you will find that this particular niche in the photography world is somewhat addicting. You will always be chasing that perfect shot, with the beautiful background and great pose. Unfortunately, Mother Nature likes to throw obstacles in your path. Please do continue to show us what your part of the planet looks like.

[Brownbear]

Hi Christina,

In a weeks time hopefully my now ordered new Nikon 80-400VR will arrive and I'll already have a set of benchmark trial shots to measure it's performance against.

Grahame

Congrats on the new lens, without a doubt you'll be nailing your BIF shots. That is a lens that I would like to purchase one day as I could use the flexibility of a zoom and VR sounds like it might come in handy for BIF. So I'm looking forward to seeing your images.

If you're experimenting why not try some super slow panning? I think I have just one shot of a duck where the head is decently sharp and everything else is blurred. It's something I hope to learn to do well in future so if you could figure out the best technique, well that would be great.

Aside... I don't mind the shadow on the heron in flight because of its small size and inconsequential placement. Steam driven (lol) - I interpreted the phrase as being too hot and humid for the camera to focus and also for the photographer.