A 03:30hrs start and worth every second and I was the only person in the hide. I set up both cameras with the intention of not missing any action.
The big advantage to me was you see the whole sequence of the events from stalk to strike capture to lip smacking or beak wash to be accurate.
These birds are so territorial too they see off intruders in seconds,but they seem to strut their stuff showing off the prize, before swallowing the fish. Behaviour I'd never seen to this extent previously.
Canon 1DX Canon 70-200mm ISO600 f/2.8 1/2000sec on a tripod arm. RAW to lightroom PS5 re-sized and even tweaked a bit.
Critique, Comments, Advice most welcomed I can take it.
If you've seen enough say so I don't want to get boring.
To me, crank up the ISO to 2500 at least and get more DOF, IMHO your are not making the most of the kit you have. Without knowing what's below ie an edge, vegetation etc, I would have gone portrait to get the reflection in to, it's a crying shame to have just a hint. Watch your subject and plan, birds were not going anywhere. Easy to say from an arm chair, but moving slightly to the left would have avoided the 'hint' of bird around the head of your subject, not ideal IMHO. Without seeing the RAW I would say looking at this, the whole image needs sharpening, well the subject and catch, it's soft with no real detail, depth or clarity of the subject, plus having a file right for web display would be nice.
Seriously Barry, do what I have suggested yesterday, trust me I'm not alone in my thoughts, hold fire posting and then post later to give both the images & yourself the justice your deserve, you will be amazed at the transformation.
Hi Barry, lovely to see an image of a Heron fishing. I was very interested to read the description of the hide and set upon your last post, it does seem like an amazing place and no I'm not bored so please share more. Whenever you take a shot you have different decisions to make re f stop, comp etc... There are always different ones you could have chosen, personally I would have uped both iso and f stop by 1 stop. The bird behind does not kill the picture and the chosen comp looks good, but with the action and constantly moving birds it is difficult to keep track of the bg. I agree that it could do with a touch of sharpening in pp. I have not downloaded your file so cannot comment on file type. I dare say Steve has offered some good advice re pp follow it and I look forward to the next post. I feel this is the best so far
Point of focus is not on the heron, but on the tench not sure if this was the effect you were after?
A thought, if AF mode has been set to "ring of misfocus" on the Canon pro bodies, this can be the effect you get, the camera has grabbed focus on the front of the subject - what AF mode were you in?
Posted by Neil Burton on June 30, 2013 at 11:52 AM
On instance where fill flahs would have helped bring out the dark side, it is possible too that the light on the "catfish" has pulled the AF due to contrast. Needs sharpening for sure and as the eye is quite dark I cannot really tell if it is not quite focussed, the fish is but it stands out more but looks to be on a plane with the eye. Would love to get hold of the RAW and have a play, the highlights are gone but the shadows could be worked and tweaked out a bit.
Looks like a great setup though, shame they are quite close together.
What would really rock is a closeup portrait of the head with fish and reflection ;)
Hi Barry, can you open the RAW in Canon DPP and confirm what the AF was set at and where the actual FP hits the subject, as it's second guess from this image. With the 1DX FP options rarely would you need to use all FP's especially for something like this and providing the camera is set up correctly (?), the hit rate should be extremely high and if you miss, then 9/10 it's human error. There is another option you can try which may also gives you a good hit rate too, which having seen deployed shooting a specific very fast Lemur is first rate.
If the catfish is sharp, the head should also be sharp.
Looks like your getting some very good and much needed advice here Barry. With that kit of yours I would expect to be cutting my finger on the birds eye. Perhaps you need to get together with someone like Steve or Dave Newton, guys who can help you with the kit and get your shooting to the next level. Sorry to be so up front about it but it is a shame to see you not getting your best from your kit and of course from the expensive opportunities that you are getting yourself
Spot on with your analysis. I listened to a pro who was on his third visit to the location, confusion set in. I'm still pleased with the results takes me back many years to my school days, "Could do much better if he tried harder".
Barry you have got some great advice and it's really interesting with the different tips and help I am sure that you will get the best out of your kit don't know if it's the same for you but I do learn a lot from making a few mistakes and trying things bit like hitting your finger with a hammer hopefully you don't do it again ,after saying all this you must be very pleased to get a fine shot like this fish and all.
I'm the kid from the back of the class, the blotting paper flicker, I should really have paid my attention but alas, I read the manual after the gear doesn't work for me. It's an ego thing that's my excuse.
That's just my very point, I know when I get it right. What I don't understand are all the factors which contribute when I get it wrong. To me that's far more crucial to get a grip on the errors.
I must say its very pleasing to see the forum come alive with contributions of help, I really do appreciate it.
Discussion
12 repliesThe big advantage to me was you see the whole sequence of the events from stalk to strike capture to lip smacking or beak wash to be accurate.
These birds are so territorial too they see off intruders in seconds,but they seem to strut their stuff showing off the prize, before swallowing the fish. Behaviour I'd never seen to this extent previously.
Canon 1DX Canon 70-200mm ISO600 f/2.8 1/2000sec on a tripod arm. RAW to lightroom PS5 re-sized and even tweaked a bit.
Critique, Comments, Advice most welcomed I can take it.
If you've seen enough say so I don't want to get boring.
To me, crank up the ISO to 2500 at least and get more DOF, IMHO your are not making the most of the kit you have. Without knowing what's below ie an edge, vegetation etc, I would have gone portrait to get the reflection in to, it's a crying shame to have just a hint. Watch your subject and plan, birds were not going anywhere. Easy to say from an arm chair, but moving slightly to the left would have avoided the 'hint' of bird around the head of your subject, not ideal IMHO. Without seeing the RAW I would say looking at this, the whole image needs sharpening, well the subject and catch, it's soft with no real detail, depth or clarity of the subject, plus having a file right for web display would be nice.
Seriously Barry, do what I have suggested yesterday, trust me I'm not alone in my thoughts, hold fire posting and then post later to give both the images & yourself the justice your deserve, you will be amazed at the transformation.
Any queries you know where I am.
cheers
Steve
Point of focus is not on the heron, but on the tench not sure if this was the effect you were after?
A thought, if AF mode has been set to "ring of misfocus" on the Canon pro bodies, this can be the effect you get, the camera has grabbed focus on the front of the subject - what AF mode were you in?
Looks like a great setup though, shame they are quite close together.
What would really rock is a closeup portrait of the head with fish and reflection ;)
If the catfish is sharp, the head should also be sharp.
Bob
Spot on with your analysis. I listened to a pro who was on his third visit to the location, confusion set in. I'm still pleased with the results takes me back many years to my school days, "Could do much better if he tried harder".
Dave is working on it.
Keith.
I'm the kid from the back of the class, the blotting paper flicker, I should really have paid my attention but alas, I read the manual after the gear doesn't work for me. It's an ego thing that's my excuse.
Try some on here
JR
That's just my very point, I know when I get it right. What I don't understand are all the factors which contribute when I get it wrong. To me that's far more crucial to get a grip on the errors.
I must say its very pleasing to see the forum come alive with contributions of help, I really do appreciate it.