DPChallenge: A Digital Photography Contest You are not logged in. (log in or register) 
 

Threads will be shown in descending order for the remainder of this session. To permanently display posts in this order, adjust your preferences.
DPChallenge Forums >> Photography Discussion >> Wildlife/bird shots and camera mode
Pages:  
Showing posts 1 - 25 of 52, descending (reverse)
AuthorThread
 11/25/2008 04:09:20 AM · #1
Hello good people.

I read all your posts and i applied some tips to use with my 450d XSI and a Canon EF 70-300 is and old Tamron AF LD 200-400.

I'm located in Uganda Africa with loads of birds even in my garden.

So far i've shot in RAW with calculated shutter speed with 1.6 crop factor.

My shots are at //www.flickr.com/photos/gipukan/

Gip
 01/27/2008 10:29:20 AM · #2
Originally posted by jbsmithana:
Originally posted by yakatme:
...Oh yeah, I think it'll finish in the top ten too.


Damn, I hope there is room for me. I was hoping to be in the top ten. Just finished mine and entered.


After looking through your portfolio I have little doubt that your entry will be very competitive. From hummingbirds to eagles, you have a lot of great shots of quite a variety of birds.
 01/27/2008 08:54:25 AM · #3
Originally posted by sailracer_98:
Now, do I enter my Chickadee or Mallard shot, like 50% of the photos in the challenge will probably be, or go with a grainier picture of a less common bird?


I'd take a nice Chickadee over a grainy loon any day. But you can have more fun with the loon title, and that could get you a bonus point for humor ;-)
 01/27/2008 08:51:01 AM · #4
Originally posted by jbsmithana:
I use AF-C, which I think is the same, when shooting moving birds. It is a constant focus mode that will keep tracking and reajusting focus. Bad news it will let the camera fire when it is OOF.


You mean the little dial on the left (A, C, M)? I use the one on top which has CL (tracks based on your initial focal point) and CH (finds something moving and focusses on it). I prefer CL, as "something" moving might be the bird but it rarely decides the eye is the thing to keep in focus ::grin::. Have tried setting both dials but I don't really see a difference in behavior, except when I have the lower one set to M and the camera cheerfully assumes I know what I want and fires away.

The focus hunt time depends a lot on the lens I'm using and what length I have it at (for the zooms). With a wider angle it's easier for the camera (and me) to track the subject so hunting is minimal to non-existent. I presume it's because the bird's movement stays within a focal point or two of where it just was because of the way the lens views distance. I'm sure there's a more technical way to say that ;-) But then with a moving bird I'm rarely using a wide angle, and it's pretty easy when zoomed in with the long lens for me, the camera, or both to lose sight of the bird! That's why I like to start zoomed out and then zoom in as I shoot when I'm taking flight shots.
 01/27/2008 08:36:39 AM · #5
Originally posted by yakatme:

...Oh yeah, I think it'll finish in the top ten too.


Congrats! I don't think I will be joining you- I had a crappy day of bird photography (but a good day being outside relaxing). I drove 70 minutes to the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge on Plum Island in Massachusetts, which is THE birding hotspot in the state, and spent 8 hours birding and trying to get a shot worthy of entry into the challenge. After going through my take, nothing jumps out at me as being worthy. The birds were very scarce this day, probably because it was in the 20's and all of the water was frozen over. Or it could be because they had the "Superbowl" of Birding going on, causing the birds to hide out of irony.

I did see some Horned Larks and a Red-Throated loon, both new species for me, but they were too far away to get pictures that are good for anything but identification. Similarly, there was a lot of action at the Bald Eagle nesting grounds- I have a picture with 7 eagles all in the same patch of sky, but again they were too far away for a National Geographic cover shot.

There was some serious equipment out there- lots of long, white lenses. Nobody had the new 800mm yet, though.

Now, do I enter my Chickadee or Mallard shot, like 50% of the photos in the challenge will probably be, or go with a grainier picture of a less common bird?
 01/27/2008 08:21:09 AM · #6
Originally posted by AperturePriority:
So, back to the topic of camera settings for shooting birds...does everyone use AI Servo mode for when they are flying? What about focus points--manually set one (which one), or set the camera to auto-select an FP?


I think I get better results if I keep my camera on AI Focus with the center point locked on. I found that AI Servo tends to hunt too much and miss my intended subject. It may be that the birds are always too small or too far away and trying to keep the center point on them while they are on the move is impossible. It seems like AI Servo will hunt through the entire focus range of the lens, so once it loses lock it take a long time to cycle through the entire focus range and I miss the shot. I don't seem to have the same problem with AI Focus. Has anyone else noticed this?
 01/27/2008 01:54:18 AM · #7
Originally posted by jbsmithana:
Originally posted by AperturePriority:
So, back to the topic of camera settings for shooting birds...does everyone use AI Servo mode for when they are flying? What about focus points--manually set one (which one), or set the camera to auto-select an FP?


I use AF-C, which I think is the same, when shooting moving birds. It is a constant focus mode that will keep tracking and reajusting focus. Bad news it will let the camera fire when it is OOF.

I also use a single focus point set a center of just left of center as it is easier to track the bird.

Yeah, that's similar to what I do, except I set my FP to the center. By the way, your Nikon D200's AF-C is like my Canon 40D's AI Server (continuous tracking but will fire without focus). The third mode on the 40D is AI Focus. It's the same as AI Servo, but you must have focus for the initial shot.

01/27/2008 01:50:26 AM · #8
Originally posted by yakatme:
...Oh yeah, I think it'll finish in the top ten too.


Damn, I hope there is room for me. I was hoping to be in the top ten. Just finished mine and entered.
 01/27/2008 01:48:15 AM · #9
Originally posted by AperturePriority:
So, back to the topic of camera settings for shooting birds...does everyone use AI Servo mode for when they are flying? What about focus points--manually set one (which one), or set the camera to auto-select an FP?


I use AF-C, which I think is the same, when shooting moving birds. It is a constant focus mode that will keep tracking and reajusting focus. Bad news it will let the camera fire when it is OOF.

I also use a single focus point set a center of just left of center as it is easier to track the bird.

01/27/2008 12:40:39 AM · #10
Originally posted by Quasimojo:
Yeeeehaw - I've got a decent keeper at last.


I got mine today too. After breaking my D80 by ripping the lens off of it I had to use my D70 with ISO 200 being the lowest possible, 1/8000 sec and -1 step exposure compensation using aperture priority.

...Oh yeah, I think it'll finish in the top ten too.

Message edited by author 2008-01-27 00:41:25.
 01/27/2008 12:32:54 AM · #11
So, back to the topic of camera settings for shooting birds...does everyone use AI Servo mode for when they are flying? What about focus points--manually set one (which one), or set the camera to auto-select an FP?

01/26/2008 09:26:19 PM · #12
Yeeeehaw - I've got a decent keeper at last. Three afternoons, over 800 shots and over 10gb of utter crap later :)

Apart from all the great advice on long lenses and shooting birds, here's another (that I hope to be in Canon's firmware one day maybe?!): BRACKET ISO (wherever possible). The keeper shot was as low as ISO 250 and I only started doing it once I'd banked a few shots at about 800. If I had stayed wide open and stayed pushed out at 500 or wherever I was I'd have missed out. The grain on the 250 is significantly better than even the 400 shots, and noise ninja handles the 250 brilliantly, whereas the 400 comes out cruddy still.

Cheers again for the help

N

01/26/2008 02:18:18 PM · #13
LOL, I am left with a pile of feathers, I could get one of my first browns hahahah
 01/26/2008 12:55:46 PM · #14
Originally posted by JulietNN:
I had a good shot today with a dove, I cheated and stuck food out for it. Then my big cat (Stinky) came along and ate the bird. I am pretty sure I can not put one of those shots in the challenge.


You could, it's just that some people tend to vote low on shots that gross them out, and in which the subject of the challenge is, um, dead. Besides, it's easier to get the bird in focus when it can't move anymore, so where's the challenge in that?

<-- tongue in cheek
 01/26/2008 12:20:51 PM · #15
Originally posted by jbsmithana:
1/500


1/1600

01/26/2008 12:04:10 PM · #16
I had a good shot today with a dove, I cheated and stuck food out for it. Then my big cat (Stinky) came along and ate the bird. I am pretty sure I can not put one of those shots in the challenge.
 01/26/2008 12:03:34 PM · #17
Quasimojo, when i'm short of light i under expose and shoot raw.. you can salvage good raw shots up to -2/3 stops of underexposure..
also you can try shooting in the middle of your zoom range, and get wider than f/5.6 ... if its for the purpose of the dpchallenge, cropping won't hurt your resolution much ..
01/26/2008 12:03:05 PM · #18
Originally posted by Quasimojo:
Originally posted by jbsmithana:
My biggest problem is that living in the NW we seldom have that bright a day in the winter and high ISO means more noise for me


I'm in the same boat here in London - today was a bright and broken cloudy day (and dry - pretty good for Jan) but the vast majority of shots to get a minimum of 1/500th was 500 ISO at the long end of a 100-400mm @ 5.6.

In my short experience I'd go so far as to say it's nigh on impossible to shoot birds in poor light (or maybe with serious equipment). Today had to have been only just enough light to get reasonably sharp shots without ridiculous noise and I really don't think anyone could have done any better given the basic physics of light. Oh, I tried flash...once....scared the sh!t out of my targets and they were off.

I wish I could get some help in advance of the challenge from the people in this thread, because I have no idea which shot to select to submit. What do you guys think makes a particularly good bird shot? Profile? Action? Colours?

N


That 30D can be pushed to 1000 ISO if exposed to the right and still be pretty noise free. You will have to use noise reduction software but it after sharpening afterwards I don't think you will be able to notice.
 01/26/2008 11:48:31 AM · #19
Originally posted by jbsmithana:
My biggest problem is that living in the NW we seldom have that bright a day in the winter and high ISO means more noise for me


I'm in the same boat here in London - today was a bright and broken cloudy day (and dry - pretty good for Jan) but the vast majority of shots to get a minimum of 1/500th was 500 ISO at the long end of a 100-400mm @ 5.6.

In my short experience I'd go so far as to say it's nigh on impossible to shoot birds in poor light (or maybe with serious equipment). Today had to have been only just enough light to get reasonably sharp shots without ridiculous noise and I really don't think anyone could have done any better given the basic physics of light. Oh, I tried flash...once....scared the sh!t out of my targets and they were off.

I wish I could get some help in advance of the challenge from the people in this thread, because I have no idea which shot to select to submit. What do you guys think makes a particularly good bird shot? Profile? Action? Colours?

N

01/26/2008 05:35:08 AM · #20
those are great shots ...
speaking of shooting wild birds.. i am trying to shoot some black kites..
i live in a big crowded city and there isnt much wild life arround except for those magnificient black kites..
they seem to gather near downtown zoo.. most of my shots were from too far a distane.
i managed to get some ok shots though.. but maybe if i knew more about them/eagles in general, i might be able to get close enough.
does anyone know anything about black kites nesting habbits .. i rarely see them perched, always in flight..
01/26/2008 04:30:03 AM · #21




tv, .08 sec, stop down, lowest iso.
 01/26/2008 03:14:00 AM · #22
Best way I've found to shoot photograph birds flying above is manual exposure mode, aim for a neutral setting below at the ground and set the cam to that, making whatever adjustments necessary to get 1/400th sec or above.

Or sometimes you just get lucky:

01/26/2008 02:14:59 AM · #23
Originally posted by ellamay:
just a little tip... birds usually fly after they poop... so get ready if they poop, flight will soon follow.

It seems to me that they fly while pooping. And they always fly over my recently washed car.
 01/26/2008 01:21:18 AM · #24
Originally posted by MelonMusketeer:
There is no zoo nearby, so all of my brid shots are in the wild


LOL! You live in a zoo! Florida is the ultimate bird photography place. And you get sun!

OK, only teasing. Nice shots and good advice.
 01/26/2008 01:17:49 AM · #25
Originally posted by ellamay:
Originally posted by jbsmithana:
Originally posted by ellamay:
if you have an IS lens you can shoot MUCH lower shutter speeds than Zeuszen suggests without IS


I'm not so sure about this Lynn. Unless the bird is stationary it is tough to get even an eagle in focus unless you can get the shutter speed up to 1/1000 although I have lucked out and gotten them in (acceptable but not perfect) focus as low as 1/500 when shooting a burst and panning with VR.


ok maybe not MUCH lower, but lower, I think the IS system may help... not to start a canon/nikon debate... but my sense is maybe the canon is a bit better?


No Canon/Nikon wars. I agree that Canon IS might be a bit better at shooting moving subjects (something about their tracking ability) but when I said shutter speeds need to be up at 1/1000 I meant to get a tack sharp image. I can get plenty of images that are usable a lower shutter speeds but if I want that razor sharp look to the eyes and feathers I still need to shoot higher. My biggest problem is that living in the NW we seldom have that bright a day in the winter and high ISO means more noise for me, there Canon is normally better. If only I could afford the new D3 (dreaming). I just need to learn how to shoot in the dreary conditions like zeuszen.

BTW - nice shots from both of you.

Here are a few I happen to have up on DPC that were shot at 1/1000:



at 1/800

And to show you are right it can be done, although I was using flash: (but I still say the success rate is much higher at 1/1000

1/250
1/500

Message edited by author 2008-01-26 11:23:12.
Pages:  
Current Server Time: 04/25/2024 01:55:07 PM

Please log in or register to post to the forums.


Home - Challenges - Community - League - Photos - Cameras - Lenses - Learn - Prints! - Help - Terms of Use - Privacy - Top ^
DPChallenge, and website content and design, Copyright © 2001-2024 Challenging Technologies, LLC.
All digital photo copyrights belong to the photographers and may not be used without permission.
Current Server Time: 04/25/2024 01:55:07 PM EDT.