So I found this nice little fellow over the weekend, however it is about 12 feet up in a tree and a bit obscured. It is also in mess of vines and tangles all over the place! Anyway it is also shady with holes in the forest for a bit of uneven or patchy light penetration. What I am wondering is should I have spot metered, if so what part of the scene? Camera is 1DII and 1-4 zoom. Unfortunately I have never used mirror lockup on my 1dII and it was a disaster apparently my Benro C-228 and induro sa-12 ball head were not sturdy enough to keep things still (had to extend the center column because the bird was so high, sure that did not help) because when I click the remote and then click again to engage the shutter there is a little vibration that I can see from a distance in the viewfinder. Anyway sorry to spoil everyones weekend with this awful exposure. Maybe the black duck photo (sorry desperate cars been in shop for weeks and no feeders in my condos).
You're doing your best given the situation. Couple of good friends told me this once, "It is what it is." The bird seems to be properly exposed. I would crank up the ISO to reduce motion blur. Other than that, wait for the bird to move into a better angle.
p.1 #10 · Warning awful image! Looking for advice!
Well it has heavy pp so.... But no advice on exposure huh? Really need some.
Jan 05, 2009 at 04:16 PM
anthony whitmo Offline • • • • • • Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #11 · Warning awful image! Looking for advice!
Hey these are nice
I dont' have any photos of these little guys > So any shot would be nice
You were shooting in tough conditions.
Spot metering would have been OK.
You can use any meting mode - as long as you use expose for the conditions correctly for the mode you are using > It shouldn't matter what metering mode you use. It looks like you should have used exposure compensation and been at a PLUS value to compensate for the conditions.
Your exif data is not intact so I can't see your shutter speed. if your shutter was to slow that would be the cause of the slightly OOF look of the eyes. In this case it would
have been more important to increase ISO / Aperture at it's lowest value for the lens and Increased SS to a value equal to your overall Lens length or double if Hand Holding > Especially if your not very stead. so if you were at 400mm your ss should be 400 - 800.
Second - FILL FLASH would have been a huge bonus in this situation. But it probably would have given you the "FLASH EYE" look. If the head is turned in the right direction you may have came out with a few photos without the EYE Flash look. And an off camera flash bracket would have helped some too
So there's a lot to your question
again to me >> Metering isn't the issue >> It's proper compensation of the metering mode you used that's important.
p.1 #12 · Warning awful image! Looking for advice!
anthony whitmo wrote:
Hey these are nice
I dont' have any photos of these little guys > So any shot would be nice
You were shooting in tough conditions.
Spot metering would have been OK.
You can use any meting mode - as long as you use expose for the conditions correctly for the mode you are using > It shouldn't matter what metering mode you use. It looks like you should have used exposure compensation and been at a PLUS value to compensate for the conditions.
Your exif data is not intact so I can't see your shutter speed. if your shutter was to slow that would be the cause of the slightly OOF look of the eyes. In this case it would
have been more important to increase ISO / Aperture at it's lowest value for the lens and Increased SS to a value equal to your overall Lens length or double if Hand Holding > Especially if your not very stead. so if you were at 400mm your ss should be 400 - 800.
Second - FILL FLASH would have been a huge bonus in this situation. But it probably would have given you the "FLASH EYE" look. If the head is turned in the right direction you may have came out with a few photos without the EYE Flash look. And an off camera flash bracket would have helped some too
So there's a lot to your question
again to me >> Metering isn't the issue >> It's proper compensation of the metering mode you used that's important.
Yeah the OOF eyes are because the mirror slap was not working correctly. Read my first comment it explains everything. I was not hand holding so I purposely used low iso to reduce noise, and thought since I had a tripod that this would work, but unfortunately that did not work the way I intended. Familiar with the hand hold technique your talking about, but just didnt want the noise. I prefer low noise. You don't things are kinda flat exposure wise? Maybe its my monitor (apple cinema). Thanks for the advice, really appreciate it!
Jan 05, 2009 at 08:58 PM
anthony whitmo Offline • • • • • • Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #13 · Warning awful image! Looking for advice!
No I have a Dell supersharp 24" and it's kind of the same.
I learned a long time ago (But I forget it sometimes )
Low ISO and blurry photos are worse than
Higher ISO Sharp Photos.
Sometimes ya just gotta use Noise Ninja
Still kewl shotz and I would love to have taken them!!
I just would have had higher noise and sharper focus.......... Well........ Maybe
p.1 #14 · Warning awful image! Looking for advice!
anthony whitmo wrote:
No I have a Dell supersharp 24" and it's kind of the same.
I learned a long time ago (But I forget it sometimes )
Low ISO and blurry photos are worse than
Higher ISO Sharp Photos.
Sometimes ya just gotta use Noise Ninja
Still kewl shotz and I would love to have taken them!!
I just would have had higher noise and sharper focus.......... Well........ Maybe
Ant
Hear that. Thanks buddy! I think the head is OOF because the breast was so puffed out it caused the head to be pushed back a bit (caused the breast to be extra sharp and the head oof) and I did not notice this in the view finder. Either way I will have to have a round two. Hopefully I will not run into the owl police! Ill tell you I am as respectful as I can be to these wonderful creatures but if I am even see taking a picture of an owl I get a lecture! I mean don't get me wrong there is a reason there are owl police (guy cut branches within feet of a saw-whet a couple years ago), but I am not that kind of photographer. I'm just full of excuses aren't I, lol!
p.1 #15 · Warning awful image! Looking for advice!
Lil Judd wrote:
hey, you got an owl - be happy. I have yet to see one.
Lil
+1!
I'm in the same boat. I'd be happy with these if they were mine. Sharpen them up & print them as 5x7's...they'll be fine! To me (someone who has been looking for owls for a while), this is a little like saying "geez...I found this $100 bill in the woods, but it has dirt on it!"
p.1 #16 · Warning awful image! Looking for advice!
I appreciate all the positive comments but these images bloooooooowwwwww! (Just look at the Saw-whets from Jody and others, these do not compare in the slightest) Saw-whets are regular here in the winter. They are rare though. This is just the first chance I have had to photograph one. I need some critical comments please! Honestly I really do. Thanks.
Maybe the black duck photo (sorry desperate cars been in shop for weeks and no feeders in my condos).
.
