Kirislin Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 I am so disappointed, I wish I knew how to take better photos :rolleyes: I had these 2 wedge tailed eagles flying overhead, one even landed in my paddock with an ibis chick, it eventually had to leave the chick behind because the magpies were harrassing it so much. It would've been the most fantastic photo opportunity but I wasted it. I am crap, if anyone can give me some advice on how to get better photos please fire away. Taken with a 400D and the 70-200 Heavily cropped Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrm88 Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 I think taking photos of birds in the sky is one of the hardest things to do! I found when taking photos of birds, higher iso is really needed, it is so hard to get good photos when it is a very quick opportunity n you cant play around with the settings. Well done on getting the photos you did get, I especially like the first photo :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirislin Posted November 2, 2009 Author Share Posted November 2, 2009 thanks, you're completely right about the quick opportunity, I didn't have time to look at the settings, I just grabbed the camera and started clicking, the only thing I had a chance to do after a few shots was flick to continuous shoot. It's just so disappointing when I see so many brilliant photos of birds and mine are not fully focussed and pale and washed out and they've got the dreaded purple fringing, most obvious in the first pic on the leading edges of the eagles wings. :rolleyes: I want crisp sharp photos with vivid colours and that's not what I've got. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrm88 Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 I know how frustrating it is, taking photos of animals/birds is even harder than people/still photography, they move and can be gone so quickly! I guess taking lots of practice shots of birds in the sky, you will only get better! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rugerfly Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 dude, what was your iso setting out of interest? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirislin Posted November 2, 2009 Author Share Posted November 2, 2009 dude, what was your iso setting out of interest? It was 200 but only because that's what it happened to be on when I grabbed the camera. this was all happening so fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 Good thinking, anyway, kirislin! It is hard to get good shots in a war zone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frodo's mum Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 they are stunning birds we quite often have a pair fly over our place and land in the paddocks, you don't realise how big they are great photo's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polomum Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 Well done Kirislin......birds are SOOOOO hard.........we went to Dubai (on our way to UK) this year and stayed at a gorgeous hotel out in the middle of the desert - as part of the hotels entertainment they had camels and Arabians for riding and also a few falcons with their handlers...... I tried soo hard to take pics of the flacons feeding......the lighting was perfect and the guy had a piece of chicken on a rope to entice the falcon back to him so I even could predict the flightpath........STILL couldn't get any good ones!! i will try my hardest to post some pics....u'd probably like them......I'm useless at posting pics and the photobucket thingo etc.....have only posted once or twice pics on DOL cos I'm very blonde at this sort of thing!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~*Shell*~ Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 Gah! Birds are so hard to shoot when they're flying - you did really well for not having any preparation! I've only ever managed to get two flying bird shots i like and they're both of seagulls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rugerfly Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 If you had actually prepared for the shot, thats when I'd be worried? if i left my camera on 200 i'd get a bit of sky blowout depends on your light metering also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bellatrix Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 You are SO not crap! Repeat after me! NOT CRAP! You did a better job than what I would have done. If you keep at it, you will get there. Birds in flight are not easy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PossumCorner Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 I think the most useful website/forum for birds-in-flight (or in any other position) shots is the Smugmug support forum at www.digitalgrin.com - the wildlife photographers pro and amateur are really generous with information on what they shoot with and how they get the results. Look in the Wildlife threads, its easy to go through (don't need to join or have a Smugmug account, though it is worthwhile joining). The bird shots there are wonderful, aside from the squirrels and bears and prairie dogs (yes it's American, with lots of Australian members). Another good section there is "People", some great street, portrait and people shots, and again generous advice if it is asked for (relevant now because of this month's Challenge). And it's a friendly forum, not snarky or jealous like so many of the photography ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PossumCorner Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 I am so disappointed, ... Taken with a 400D and the 70-200 .... Heavily cropped ... Ditto ... Taken with a Nikon D90, Sigma 28-300 cheapey lens .... Ditto. (But I take heart from Rugerfly's comment re un-prepared). These two were in a tree by Lysterfield Road (near the feed store on the Wellington Road corner). And yes I also had ISO set at 200, and no I didn't have time to re-set anything as they were about to move as I pulled up. Then the magpies took after them, then I almost got run down by a Mack truck because I wasn't thinking about OHS. Almost killed these shots in photoshop to find an image, then Photobucket finished them off. Oh well, one day we will be ready for them eagles. (Think I had shutter priority 1000th as I'd just done some pony shots). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirislin Posted December 17, 2009 Author Share Posted December 17, 2009 (edited) I bet you had the same surge of excitement I had as I fumbled around with my camera to just try to get them in the view finder and hope for the best before the just got too far away. It's always such a thrill to see them in the wild, so close you can see them looking around as they glide. I feel your pain and disappointment but really any eagle shot, even a bad one is still worth taking. That said, yours are much better than mine, thanks for posting them. Edited December 17, 2009 by Kirislin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ripley Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 (edited) Try trying to fit a Wandering Albatross in the frame when it has a wingspan of over 3 metres (that's over 9 feet!) and you have a prime lens, not a zoom and then you have to make sure you don't blow out the white feathers. God, that was bloody hard but I think I have a few keepers. Because of it's sheer size, and my prime lens, I missed a few passings it did around the boat but got a few in thanks to putting the camera on continuous shooting mode. I'll put some shots up over the weekend, they are still on my CF card. eta: I've found for birds in flight, it's better (for me anyway) to activate one focus point only and then try and get that focus point over the bird's head. If you have all focus points activated, the camera may focus on the background and not the bird and you will get a sharp background and out of focus subject. I will also usually shoot in jpeg and have it on high continuous shooting mode so I have more of a chance of at least one shot being sharp. Shooting birds in flight in raw takes too long for it to write to the CF card when your camera is firing away like a machine gun. I don't always use AI Servo, AI focus is good if you can lock the focus on the bird before it moves again and Canon cameras are pretty good at keeping that bird in focus. Pan with your body as you shoot. You can also try panning using a slow shutter speed for some bird shots that show movement. I usually only use one focus point when I photograph birds and not always the centre one. It helps if you can quickly change focus points on the dial on your camera too - I have a 30D and find it easy to do this with the dial at the front. You don't get time for preparation and fiddling about when a wild bird comes into view. Edited December 18, 2009 by Ripley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirislin Posted December 18, 2009 Author Share Posted December 18, 2009 thanks for the advice Ripley, I do use one focus point but it's the centre one. I will try to remember to just shoot in jpeg if/when I get another chance. One thing I know for sure here is that Oct/Nov are Eagles catching Ibis chicks season. Last 2 years in a row I've witnessed quite a few now, they just pluck the fat innocent chicks from the nests so hopefully next year I will be expecting them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ripley Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 (edited) Shoot in Raw if you have the time as it's more forgiving of exposure. I was only shooting jpeg as I had the camera on high continuous and the 30D give 6 frames per second and so takes longer to write to the card and you miss valuable shooting time. There are downsides to this, it's going to take me ages to cull out all the crap shots. Also if the bird is against the sky, you can try shooting in Manual if the sky is a blerk one (I hate white skies as they cause underexposure), I haven't tried this before though. For metering on birds in flight, I generally use Evaluated unless the bird is stationary and I want a black background and it's nice light, I'll use spot metering then. eta: sorry, one more thing. I don't necessarily agree that you need a humongous lens for general bird photography. I have a 300mm prime and a 1.4 teleconverter and I don't like using the teleconverter as it slows down focus, so often I'll just use the 300mm. You just need to learn how to approach your subject closer (so no bright colours). Or go to places where birds aren't that afraid of humans such as camping grounds, protected islands or wetlands or out on a boat that specialises in seabird trips and practise. I've just ordered a 'camo' neoprane cover for my ugly white lens as it stands out like dogs' balls. Oh, and I turn the focus beep to off. Edited December 18, 2009 by Ripley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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