Posted by Liam Pauling on April 15, 2009 at 1:58 PM
I was lucky to have a SEO stop over on its migration near me, I think he has left now but out of two visits this is best photo I got. I realise it is not perfect, I wish the bird was bigger in the frame but I like the spring colours and the bird was very aware of people. I was fully camo'd up and lying in the grass, even then he spotted me! C&c appreciated.
1/640s f/6.3 ISO200 400mm monopod
Posted by Craig Jones on April 15, 2009 at 2:21 PM
Nice seo shot and the looking 'into' the frame is nice liam, like the soft tones to the image, they are beautiful birds, well done
Nicely captured with the bird positioned well within the frame. The size of the bird in the scene works fine for me and I like the flowering gorse in the background.
Like the colours agree it does look overexposed and a touch soft... did you shoot in RAW?
Posted by Liam Pauling on April 16, 2009 at 10:07 AM
Thanks, the light was amazing at 7am but of course it didn't start hunting until 9, by then it was low level cloud. I therefore boosted the contrast to try and make the bird stand out a bit more, I think I over did it It was shot in JPEG I don't like the raw images the 350d gives.
Only the second time I have had a go at capturing these so I am happy, easily my favorite bird to photograph!
It was shot in JPEG I don't like the raw images the 350d gives.
Liam,
You should find that your 350D's raw images are every bit as good as the jpegs and in a lot of cases superior, once they've been processed, which needn't mean more than a few seconds.
For tricky lighting and difficult exposure situatons it's worth trying to master shooting and processing Raw files IMHO.
If your camera allows it, which it probably does, why not shoot in Raw & JPEG mode. You'll have the best of both worlds then, the ready-to-go jpegs looking good straight from the camera but you'll have the safety net of the Raw file for when you want to extract maximum quality and/or tweak any settings which you feel could be an improvement over the camera's adjustments and settings.
Just a suggestion.
Posted by Liam Pauling on April 16, 2009 at 2:39 PM
Justin,
Every time I have used raw I have been disappointed, maybe its because of my processing but I can never make them look as good as the jpeg's. I will have a go at using raw next time I shoot.
If I was to shoot raw & jpeg does it reduce the amount of shots I can take in a given time? As if I reduce the frame rate of my 350d it would be like using a p&s.
If I was to shoot raw & jpeg does it reduce the amount of shots I can take in a given time?
That's a good point. I guess it probably would reduce the frame rate and the time it takes the buffer to clear. I'm not familiar with the 350D so I don't know how much the added jpeg would slow things down. It might say in the manual perhaps or it may be worth doing some tests.
Posted by Liam Pauling on April 16, 2009 at 4:39 PM
I have done some research and shooting jpeg and raw does reduce the amount of images you can take but apparently it is more to do with what cf card you have. As the camera has a max buffer size and the quicker the card is at writing the faster you can get back to shooting at the max frame rate. So shooting jpeg and raw won't affect the frame rate immediately, only when the buffer is full but due to there being more mb this will happen far quicker.
So I will probably experiment with raw over the next couple of weeks and see how it goes, thanks for the advice
Discussion
11 replies1/640s f/6.3 ISO200 400mm monopod
Matt
Hi Liam,
Well done getting a shot of this bird, your efforts have paid off. I can never get close to these!
Its a bit overexposed and a little soft, have a play around with the levels and usm to give more punch!
Cheers,
Lewis.
Only the second time I have had a go at capturing these so I am happy, easily my favorite bird to photograph!
Liam,
You should find that your 350D's raw images are every bit as good as the jpegs and in a lot of cases superior, once they've been processed, which needn't mean more than a few seconds.
For tricky lighting and difficult exposure situatons it's worth trying to master shooting and processing Raw files IMHO.
If your camera allows it, which it probably does, why not shoot in Raw & JPEG mode. You'll have the best of both worlds then, the ready-to-go jpegs looking good straight from the camera but you'll have the safety net of the Raw file for when you want to extract maximum quality and/or tweak any settings which you feel could be an improvement over the camera's adjustments and settings.
Just a suggestion.
Every time I have used raw I have been disappointed, maybe its because of my processing but I can never make them look as good as the jpeg's. I will have a go at using raw next time I shoot.
If I was to shoot raw & jpeg does it reduce the amount of shots I can take in a given time? As if I reduce the frame rate of my 350d it would be like using a p&s.
That's a good point. I guess it probably would reduce the frame rate and the time it takes the buffer to clear. I'm not familiar with the 350D so I don't know how much the added jpeg would slow things down. It might say in the manual perhaps or it may be worth doing some tests.
So I will probably experiment with raw over the next couple of weeks and see how it goes, thanks for the advice