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    #1

    International birds of prey centre

    Had a cold windy few hours at the IBPC today. 7 degrees C and horrible grey skies. Not ideal conditions for my first attempt at BIF.

    Not after critique, I know I need to be focussing on the eye and getting the exposure better. However any tips will be appreciated!

    All with a 7D and Sigma 300f2.8:

    ISO640 F5.6 1/3200 sec




    ISO400 f4.5 1/2500 sec ('Blue' sky added in PS)




    ISO640 F4 1/250 sec

    Ron

    www.severnvalephoto.co.uk

    Cameras: 5D, 7D, 1DmkIV, G1X.
    Lenses: 16-35 F2.8 L, 24-105 F4 LIS, 70-300 LIS, 180 L macro, 200 F2.8 L, 400 F2.8 LIS mkII.
    Tags: None
    #2
    Re: International birds of prey centre

    Ron, no critique but a question... how did you manage to get the first shot looking down onto the back of the kite??? Most shots of kites are from the underside as they ride the thermals at a fair old height.
    #3 is my favourite.
    Getting focus on a kite's eye is like standing outside in winter in this country and not getting wet from rain...
    David
    David

    Comment

      #3
      Re: International birds of prey centre

      Hello Ron

      You certainly have the right kit for the job, but conditions weren't being kind to you. However, a very creditable effort under the circumstances.

      Number one looks like a full crop, hence the clipped wing, focus and composition are good, but I suspect the exposure was heavily influenced by the sky. I would have expected the sky to have been much lighter, which would also make the eagle a bit lighter as well.

      Number two is well exposed for the conditions and the diagonal of the wings in the frame works well. For composition, a bit more space to the right would help. For the flat lighting on the bird, I would have been tempted to use a very light grey rather than light blue, as it would be more in keeping with the lighting on the bird.

      Number three is spot on for exposure and composition. Note how much better it looks with more space in front of the bird than behind. It gives it the impression of space to fly into and is therefore better balanced. You are focussed on the far wing rather than the eyes/ head, but you didn't need me to tell you that.

      You didn't need to use such a high shutter speed for the first two. I normally look for 1/1600 sec @ f8 for larger birds with a 500mm, so with the 300mm with it's better depth of field, you would probably need f5.6, or f4. For smaller faster birds I would look for 1/2000 or 1/2500 sec, depending on the species. Also, try and stay with the native ISO's. The intermediate ones are not true ISO settings and is just a firmware calculation. Normally (up to around 1600 ISO) you will get more digital noise using the intermediate ISO's than you would for the next higher native ISO. In other words, you were fine at 400 ISO, but 640 ISO is likely to be noisier than 800 ISO.

      Does any of that help Ron?

      Finally for David, you're going to kick yourself with the question of being higher than the kite. First of all the kite is an eagle and secondly, the illusion of being above the bird is created by the bird banking towards the camera. Without any reference points in the picture, such as trees, the brain assumes that you must be higher than the eagle.

      Colin
      Colin

      Comment

        #4
        Re: International birds of prey centre

        $%^&*£ .... this is a public forum so gotta watch my language

        Just not thinking... kites are over my place all the time banking and wheeling and yes I can see their backs when they do this

        At least we both agree on #3

        David
        David

        Comment

          #5
          Re: International birds of prey centre

          Originally posted by colin C View Post
          Hello Ron

          You certainly have the right kit for the job, but conditions weren't being kind to you. However, a very creditable effort under the circumstances.

          Number one looks like a full crop, hence the clipped wing, focus and composition are good, but I suspect the exposure was heavily influenced by the sky. I would have expected the sky to have been much lighter, which would also make the eagle a bit lighter as well.

          Number two is well exposed for the conditions and the diagonal of the wings in the frame works well. For composition, a bit more space to the right would help. For the flat lighting on the bird, I would have been tempted to use a very light grey rather than light blue, as it would be more in keeping with the lighting on the bird.

          Number three is spot on for exposure and composition. Note how much better it looks with more space in front of the bird than behind. It gives it the impression of space to fly into and is therefore better balanced. You are focussed on the far wing rather than the eyes/ head, but you didn't need me to tell you that.

          You didn't need to use such a high shutter speed for the first two. I normally look for 1/1600 sec @ f8 for larger birds with a 500mm, so with the 300mm with it's better depth of field, you would probably need f5.6, or f4. For smaller faster birds I would look for 1/2000 or 1/2500 sec, depending on the species. Also, try and stay with the native ISO's. The intermediate ones are not true ISO settings and is just a firmware calculation. Normally (up to around 1600 ISO) you will get more digital noise using the intermediate ISO's than you would for the next higher native ISO. In other words, you were fine at 400 ISO, but 640 ISO is likely to be noisier than 800 ISO.

          Does any of that help Ron?

          Finally for David, you're going to kick yourself with the question of being higher than the kite. First of all the kite is an eagle and secondly, the illusion of being above the bird is created by the bird banking towards the camera. Without any reference points in the picture, such as trees, the brain assumes that you must be higher than the eagle.

          Colin
          Its true what Colin says about iso, stick to the native ones 100,200,400 ect.Colin gave my the same advice and it does work .
          Paul
          EOS 1Dx, - EF 24-105L f4,- Sigma 135 f1.8 Art - EF 400L IS f2.8, - Speedlite 430EXII.
          Freelance Sports Photographer for local Press - https://twitter.com/P_linton99

          Comment

            #6
            Re: International birds of prey centre

            I think #1 could do with more highlights and darker shadows to give more contrast. This is based on valid advise given to me on some of my shots. Probably just a tweak in DPP is all that is needed

            Tried it in PSP and it looked better to me - not that is a reliable recommendation

            Brian
            Last edited by briansquibb; 16-04-2010, 09:35.
            ef-r

            Comment

              #7
              Re: International birds of prey centre

              Thanks all for the advice, especially Colin.

              I thought using the odd ISOs was supposed to give better results, but I obviously got it back to front . It may also explain the problems I have been having with fringing.

              I shall take all of your advice on board for my next trip and post the results.

              Thanks again
              Ron

              www.severnvalephoto.co.uk

              Cameras: 5D, 7D, 1DmkIV, G1X.
              Lenses: 16-35 F2.8 L, 24-105 F4 LIS, 70-300 LIS, 180 L macro, 200 F2.8 L, 400 F2.8 LIS mkII.

              Comment

                #8
                Re: International birds of prey centre

                heres a Kite from the same day as the shots above. Any better or have I gone over the top?

                Ron

                www.severnvalephoto.co.uk

                Cameras: 5D, 7D, 1DmkIV, G1X.
                Lenses: 16-35 F2.8 L, 24-105 F4 LIS, 70-300 LIS, 180 L macro, 200 F2.8 L, 400 F2.8 LIS mkII.

                Comment

                  #9
                  Re: International birds of prey centre

                  What exactly did you do to get this result?
                  I do like it, but it does not look like a photograph, more like a painted picture... somehow not naturall...
                  EOS 1DX, EOS 5D mkiii, EOS 7D, EF 17-40mm f4 L USM, EF 24-70mm f2.8 L II USM, EF 70-200mm f2.8 L II IS USM, EF 50mm f1.2 L, EF-S 60mm f2.8 Macro USM, Speedlite 580EX

                  Comment

                    #10
                    Re: International birds of prey centre

                    Topaz labs
                    Ron

                    www.severnvalephoto.co.uk

                    Cameras: 5D, 7D, 1DmkIV, G1X.
                    Lenses: 16-35 F2.8 L, 24-105 F4 LIS, 70-300 LIS, 180 L macro, 200 F2.8 L, 400 F2.8 LIS mkII.

                    Comment

                      #11
                      Re: International birds of prey centre

                      Thanks, which of the pkug ins did you use?
                      EOS 1DX, EOS 5D mkiii, EOS 7D, EF 17-40mm f4 L USM, EF 24-70mm f2.8 L II USM, EF 70-200mm f2.8 L II IS USM, EF 50mm f1.2 L, EF-S 60mm f2.8 Macro USM, Speedlite 580EX

                      Comment

                        #12
                        Re: International birds of prey centre

                        that should read plug ins....
                        EOS 1DX, EOS 5D mkiii, EOS 7D, EF 17-40mm f4 L USM, EF 24-70mm f2.8 L II USM, EF 70-200mm f2.8 L II IS USM, EF 50mm f1.2 L, EF-S 60mm f2.8 Macro USM, Speedlite 580EX

                        Comment

                          #13
                          Re: International birds of prey centre

                          Adjust, Clean and Detail
                          Ron

                          www.severnvalephoto.co.uk

                          Cameras: 5D, 7D, 1DmkIV, G1X.
                          Lenses: 16-35 F2.8 L, 24-105 F4 LIS, 70-300 LIS, 180 L macro, 200 F2.8 L, 400 F2.8 LIS mkII.

                          Comment

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