He said what?

[tbond]

Taken in late afternoon sun of two small waxeyes arguing over access to the nearby fruit.
This is my first image submit for critique
http://www.photography.ca/Forums/members/tbond/albums/birds-new-zealand/13286-he-said-what-natural-light-hanheld-canon-550d-tamron-18_270-lens-iso-500-fstop-f-6-3-exposure-1-2000-sec.jpg

[Bambi]

HI there Tbond. Welcome to the forum I like the moment you captured here- it's quite funny. Based on what I see it seems a bit soft. However if you uploaded it and it's too big there can be compression issues.

[theantiquetiger]

This is a GREAT shot!!! (much better than your fantail shot). The colors and expressions on the birds are captured nicely. As a novice, I would be very proud of this shot!!!!

As for the softness, I can't tell because I'm on an iPhone right now.

[Iguanasan]

This is a very engaging image. Nicely captured. There is some softness which is due to the board's compression I expect. When uploading images to the forum try to ensure they are less than 1025 pixels on the longest side and less than 275KB or the board's software will compress the image and cause some softness issues.

That being said, it looks like you missed the focus. The feather's look sharper (maybe that's just me) than the eye and whenever you are photographing something that has eyes you should always, as a rule, try to ensure the eyes are tack sharp. You captured a nice catchlight in the eye of the one on the left but it's a bit blurry.

[Marko]

Cool comp - but the focus was missed here OR the shot is greater than 275k.
Always focus on the eyes, and shutterspeed should be HIGH for birds. 1/500 would be my minimum for this shot.

[tbond]

Thanks for the feedback.

Yes, now it is pointed out, I agree the shot is clear on feathers and soft, or slightly out on the eyes.
The camera settings were...
ISO: 500, Fstop: f/6.3, Exposure 1/2000 sec.
Thanks.
What would be better settings to get a bit more depth of field to help sort focus issues?

[JAS_Photo]

A very cute shot!

Oops! Sorry did not realize this was in critique.

[Iguanasan]

Thanks for the feedback.

Yes, now it is pointed out, I agree the shot is clear on feathers and soft, or slightly out on the eyes.
The camera settings were...
ISO: 500, Fstop: f/6.3, Exposure 1/2000 sec.
Thanks.
What would be better settings to get a bit more depth of field to help sort focus issues?

Looks like you had lots of light here and Marko's suggestion of 1/500th or so says you could have increased to f8 maybe to get more DOF. How do you have your focus configured? Are you using spot focus or multi-point? I prefer spot focus. Then I can focus on the eyes and then recompose whenever I do animal or portrait shots.

[NorthStone]

Great shot tbond. Shame about the eyes but that doesn't deter from a very fine image. How long did you have to wait to capture them?

[tbond]

I generally use spot focus. i take the point in terms of getting the fstop up to about 8. Soooooo much to learn!
thanks.

[tbond]

I spent about an hour standing in the tree, and took about 100 shots to get this one.

[Iguanasan]

I spent about an hour standing in the tree, and took about 100 shots to get this one.

Wow! Great dedication!


I generally use spot focus. i take the point in terms of getting the fstop up to about 8. Soooooo much to learn!
thanks.

Hmmm...interesting. Let me investigate further if you don't mind...

What are you shooting with? (Camera, lens?) What focal length was this taken at? If you have your camera set to spot focus what focus mode do you have it on? Single shot? AI Servo? Sometimes the EXIF can be very helpful but it depends on the variables of which there are many!

[tbond]

I don't mind at all, there is so much to learn!
I have a Canon 550d, lens for this shot was a Tamron 17-270
The camera was set on servo and was handheld, as birds were all through the tree, feasting on the fruit. I spent a good hour looking and taking as many interesting shots as possible. These birds are very small (about 3 inches or 7cms in height) and don't stay still unless they are actively feeding, so for most shots there are only seconds to see the opportunity, get the bird/s in veiwfinder, focus and shoot. Distance from camera to subject ranged from 2 metres to 10 metres. I obviously can do better with the camera settings for this sort of situation.
Single spot focus used.
f6.3
ISO 500
exposure 1/2000 sec

[Iguanasan]

I don't mind at all, there is so much to learn!
I have a Canon 550d, lens for this shot was a Tamron 17-270
The camera was set on servo and was handheld, as birds were all through the tree, feasting on the fruit. I spent a good hour looking and taking as many interesting shots as possible. These birds are very small (about 3 inches or 7cms in height) and don't stay still unless they are actively feeding, so for most shots there are only seconds to see the opportunity, get the bird/s in veiwfinder, focus and shoot. Distance from camera to subject ranged from 2 metres to 10 metres. I obviously can do better with the camera settings for this sort of situation.
Single spot focus used.
f6.3
ISO 500
exposure 1/2000 sec

While AI Servo is definitely a great idea for things that are fluttering about it's what made you miss the focus a bit. The centre of the image (unless you cropped it) is the wing on the left bird. That's in pretty good focus. Right where the centre point focus would be for AI Servo. If you get another opportunity try pointing the centre point directly at their eyes and take that shot. You can then crop for a slightly better composition.

[asnow]

I spent about an hour standing in the tree, and took about 100 shots to get this one.
WOW. That must have been a long conversation. Nice patience and catch. I agree that this picture would have been even better if the eyes had of been tack sharp.

[tbond]

Thanks for that, will try on other shots, this particular opportunity won't come again untill the fruit is ripe in July/august next year.

[Iguanasan]

Thanks for that, will try on other shots, this particular opportunity won't come again untill the fruit is ripe in July/august next year.

I feel your pain. Saw an awesome shot one morning on the bus for sunrise and didn't jump off the bus. Then I realized that the subject wouldn't line up with the sunrise again for at least 6 months :(