Posted by Barry Southon on February 22, 2007 at 4:09 PM
In an effort to make advancement in my technique can I post a second attempt at the same for me difficult subject. I'm trying to invoke the advice but it'soften easier said than done. Using public hides present difficulties unless I take a saw with me from an angle of attack.
Canon 350D 50mm - 500mm 2x 1/1000 F13.0 iso400
Advice C&C appreciated
Thank you
Barry
Posted by Sean Bolton on February 22, 2007 at 4:24 PM
HI Barry
Yes, coots are a difficult subject, mainly trying to get them lit well enough to reveal some detail in the blacks.
Considering you are shooting from a public hide, using a (Sigma?) 50-500 with a 2x converter this is actually not a bad shot. Composition wise it would be better with the bird more on the left hand side of the frame. Also when taking this type of shot it is often worth just waiting and following the bird until eventually it does something interesting such as flap it's wings, do it's aggressive male thing and stick it's rear feathers in the air and it's face in the water, etc. Usually this makes for a more interesting image than just a static bird portrait. Also wait for the bird to be lit well by the sun before clicking.
Processing wise you can pull in the levels a bit from the white end and lift the colours in the shot. Also remove a bit of a blue cast (only slight). I think you can also sharpen the area around the eye some more, it looks a bit soft at the moment and I think it could be improved. Actually it looks pretty sharp considering it is the 50-500 with a 2x TC.
Here is my adjusted image for you to compare and see if you prefer it or not. The changes to the file are not huge, but the difference in appearance can sometimes be quite substantial.
cheers
Sean
p.s. for coots just go to any popular park and photograph the tame ones from ground/water level. It is much easier, you will get better shots, and you probably won't need the 2x TC.
I think a lot of the advise given on your previous post would apply here also,so rather than repeat that again,one additional point I'd mention is it's often desirable to have the majority of space in front of your subject than behind unless there's a specic area that you wanted to include behind the bird,such as trailing water/ripples,etc. as the bird is taking off.
Posted by Barry Southon on February 22, 2007 at 5:33 PM
Thankyou so much this is just what I needed, I'll try to adjust inline with the advice. Your adjustment Sean is clear, this is another skill which I need to master.
I'll keep at it.
Barry
Posted by Sean Bolton on February 22, 2007 at 5:45 PM
Hi Barry
Yep practice, practice, practice is the best thing. Both with the camera and on the computer. Subjects like coots and moorhens actually make very good training material, they are some of the hardest birds to photograph well and you can learn a lot just by concentrating on one subject and working on improving your images with it. If you can do coots and moorhens, you can do any bird.
cheers
Sean
Posted by Rob Ashton on February 23, 2007 at 6:04 AM
Hi Barry,
You've done well considering all the factors you face. Working from public hides can be awkward as they are not designed with photographers in mind. You have done well also with the 50-500 + 2x tc. This is pushing the lens capability to beyond its design. A bit of computer workflow improvement and you can get a reasonable result as shown by Sean. Keep practicing and things will get better. Also see if you can get to the waters edge outside of the hides.
Rob
Posted by Paul Thomas on February 23, 2007 at 6:20 AM
A technique I use for getting the exposure right when photographing coots is to spot metre off the bird's body with -1 and 2/3rds EV comp. Works well for me even in the brightest sunlight.
Paul
Posted by Rene de Heer on February 23, 2007 at 10:00 AM
I think working from public hides is very hard. You have done well from that respect and with Sean's PS help the image looks so much better!
Rene de Heer
Posted by Graeme Lee on February 24, 2007 at 9:57 AM
Agree with the other comments Barry. All good advice. Processing is a skill on it's own and with digital good processing is essential. Another thing I haven't mastered
Discussion
8 repliesCanon 350D 50mm - 500mm 2x 1/1000 F13.0 iso400
Advice C&C appreciated
Thank you
Barry
Yes, coots are a difficult subject, mainly trying to get them lit well enough to reveal some detail in the blacks.
Considering you are shooting from a public hide, using a (Sigma?) 50-500 with a 2x converter this is actually not a bad shot. Composition wise it would be better with the bird more on the left hand side of the frame. Also when taking this type of shot it is often worth just waiting and following the bird until eventually it does something interesting such as flap it's wings, do it's aggressive male thing and stick it's rear feathers in the air and it's face in the water, etc. Usually this makes for a more interesting image than just a static bird portrait. Also wait for the bird to be lit well by the sun before clicking.
Processing wise you can pull in the levels a bit from the white end and lift the colours in the shot. Also remove a bit of a blue cast (only slight). I think you can also sharpen the area around the eye some more, it looks a bit soft at the moment and I think it could be improved. Actually it looks pretty sharp considering it is the 50-500 with a 2x TC.
Here is my adjusted image for you to compare and see if you prefer it or not. The changes to the file are not huge, but the difference in appearance can sometimes be quite substantial.
cheers
Sean
p.s. for coots just go to any popular park and photograph the tame ones from ground/water level. It is much easier, you will get better shots, and you probably won't need the 2x TC.
I think a lot of the advise given on your previous post would apply here also,so rather than repeat that again,one additional point I'd mention is it's often desirable to have the majority of space in front of your subject than behind unless there's a specic area that you wanted to include behind the bird,such as trailing water/ripples,etc. as the bird is taking off.
I'll keep at it.
Barry
Yep practice, practice, practice is the best thing. Both with the camera and on the computer. Subjects like coots and moorhens actually make very good training material, they are some of the hardest birds to photograph well and you can learn a lot just by concentrating on one subject and working on improving your images with it. If you can do coots and moorhens, you can do any bird.
cheers
Sean
You've done well considering all the factors you face. Working from public hides can be awkward as they are not designed with photographers in mind. You have done well also with the 50-500 + 2x tc. This is pushing the lens capability to beyond its design. A bit of computer workflow improvement and you can get a reasonable result as shown by Sean. Keep practicing and things will get better. Also see if you can get to the waters edge outside of the hides.
Rob
Paul
Rene de Heer
Graeme