Male & Female Herons

Where and how do I start with this one?

Handheld Canon 350D sigma 50mm-500mm X2 ISO200 f13 1/100sec

Taken back in the spring in a local park I liked it.

Comments and Critique please

Thanks

Barry
Eastbourne

Barry what are you looking for in the feedback? - problems with the shot as it stands, or how to improve in the future? or both?

For starters, one problem is that you have cut-off both the herons feet. Given the amount of headroom, the subjects should have been higher in the frame to record/show the feet and perch branch they are stood on

Apart from chopping the legs off Barry, it's really soft. You really need to be using a tripod with those techs. 1/100th and possibly 1000mm, even a tripod would struggle to keep that still!!!

Hi Barry - your AF has focussed on the branch infront of the herons, it will always do this mate - manual focus has to be done to get it right.
That can lead to a problem if you have your AF activation on your shutter button, if you focus correctly and then press the button the AF will defocus - simplest way around the problem is to remove AF activation from the shutter button in your setup menu - and that is a TOP TIP Barry

If you go handheld there's a golden rule to follow: never use a shutter speed less than the reciprocal of your focal length, and you do need to take your camera crop-factor into account.

If your Bigma was at 500mm for this + your 2x tc that would be 1000mm which will equate to 1500mm+ on your 350D ( I forget your crop factor, is it 1.5,1.6 or 1.7) so your best minimum shutter speed would in truth be 1/2000th - use anything below and you are in tpod land.

Comp-wise Mike and G-man have covered your problems.

Hope this helps matey

I doubt that AF would work with the lens combo in use - it would be equivelent to F13 shot wide open as reported in the EXIF. AF runs out at F5.6 on a 350D body, so the shot was restricted to manual focus only. Considering how dark the viewfinder must have been, it is a pretty fair attempt at the shot, but really a tripod should have been used to tame the inevitable camera shake.

Aside from the techs that the others have commented on, I think you were maybe too optimistic in trying to get a shot with all those branches between you and the subject. A slight change of position may have helped. It was a nice subject though and I would go back this coming spring, there is a good chance that your opportunity might repeat itself if they are regulars.

Hi Barry,
The comments above about the feet are valid, but ask yourself why you chopped the feet off? I'd say you are using the centre focussing point as a "rifle sight" as the real problem is that you have the heads dead centre and that is probably what you were concentrating on. Take a look around the whole frame before pressing the shutter release.

HIH

Ian