Show your Bird Portraits

[Jack Douglas]

[/quote]
Nice shot ... the image displays a lot of character of those 2 birds ... me thinks the yelling one is the wife ;D ... ok just to make sure I don't get in trouble (just in case the wife is reading my posts), my wife never yells at me, but does the much more deadly "silent treatments"
[/quote]

I have a hunch they are both males! Good thing they're not allowed to cary guns! There was a lot of "good natured" jostling but no swearing that I could tell.

Hand holding always this was pretty slow for action but still it kind of worked.

6D 300 X2 640th F14 ISO 3200

Jack

 

[dmrrsn1]

I photographed this bird on Thanksgiving

 

[Northstar]

I went out to the lake again at the weekend, I tried to focus manually this time and I got some good results, I’ll start off with my favourite pic of the day, ISO 400, 640th, f8 shot with my Sigma 500mm then cropped about 50%, I still see that it’s a bit soft, can anyone help my improve my sharpness…..without buying and using LR!!!!
Second pic was shot at the same settings, and so was the third!!

Jock....I'll give you my thoughts.

With the sigma 150-500 at 500, it's just not a real sharp lens at 500, even at f8, decent but not great. But there are a couple things you could do to help get better focus and sharpness.

First, with faster moving subjects, I really like to shoot at twice the focal length....1/1000 in this case with your 500mm. You were at 1/640...so I think this will help. With the 500mm and flying birds, 1/1000 is your absolute minimum..IMO.

Second...learn to use a good editing tool to improve contrast, sharpness...etc. I did a two minute edit on my iPad to your first photo, just cropping, straightening, and sharpening....it helps. I used snapseed..it's free.

Good luck sir!

Original and the edit

 

[TheJock]

Jock....I'll give you my thoughts.

With the sigma 150-500 at 500, it's just not a real sharp lens at 500, even at f8, decent but not great. But there are a couple things you could do to help get better focus and sharpness.

First, with faster moving subjects, I really like to shoot at twice the focal length....1/1000 in this case with your 500mm. You were at 1/640...so I think this will help. With the 500mm and flying birds, 1/1000 is your absolute minimum..IMO.

Second...learn to use a good editing tool to improve contrast, sharpness...etc. I did a two minute edit on my iPad to your first photo, just cropping, straightening, and sharpening....it helps. I used snapseed..it's free.

Good luck sir!

Original and the edit

I can’t thank you enough Northstar, I will try Snapseed as you have recommended, sounds like it will suit my needs perfectly with my current kit, Microsoft Picture Manager does not have a “sharpening” tool and this is the only program I have used this far, just for cropping or increasing/decreasing colour, brightness etc.

I really appreciate your critique as I knew that the IQ errors were down to the dodgy user rather than the lens, I will increase my shutter speed next time I’m out, and would an increase to f10/12 help too? As in will more of the bird be in focus if I’m using spot metering??

Again, thanks for your help.

 

[Rienzphotoz]

I photographed this bird on Thanksgiving

Nice catch ... I think it'll look even nicer if you cropped in on the bird ... Welcome to CR.

 

[Rienzphotoz]

Jock....I'll give you my thoughts.

With the sigma 150-500 at 500, it's just not a real sharp lens at 500, even at f8, decent but not great. But there are a couple things you could do to help get better focus and sharpness.

First, with faster moving subjects, I really like to shoot at twice the focal length....1/1000 in this case with your 500mm. You were at 1/640...so I think this will help. With the 500mm and flying birds, 1/1000 is your absolute minimum..IMO.

Second...learn to use a good editing tool to improve contrast, sharpness...etc. I did a two minute edit on my iPad to your first photo, just cropping, straightening, and sharpening....it helps. I used snapseed..it's free.

Good luck sir!

Original and the edit

I can’t thank you enough Northstar, I will try Snapseed as you have recommended, sounds like it will suit my needs perfectly with my current kit, Microsoft Picture Manager does not have a “sharpening” tool and this is the only program I have used this far, just for cropping or increasing/decreasing colour, brightness etc.

I really appreciate your critique as I knew that the IQ errors were down to the dodgy user rather than the lens, I will increase my shutter speed next time I’m out, and would an increase to f10/12 help too? As in will more of the bird be in focus if I’m using spot metering??

Again, thanks for your help.

Hi Jock, I totally agree with with Northstar has mentioned ... I have 2 Sigma 150-500 OS lenses (one for Canon and one for Nikon).
Both my Sigma 150-500 OS lenses are at their sharpest at f/11 ... many other online reviews also seem to confirm the same.
I use a plugin program called Nik with my Lightroom to sharpen photos made with 150-500 OS. But its not necessary to get paid software, there are plenty of free software out there that can do a very good job.

When you bought your DSLR, it should have come with CDs containing several software programs, in that you will find "Digital Photo Professional" ... alternatively you can also download them for free on Canon website ... here I provided a link for the software that comes tih 5D MK III (http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/cameras/slr_cameras/eos_5d_mark_iii?selectedName=DriversAndSoftware), you can use that software to sharpen your photos. Once you are comfortable with editing, you could eventually get paid software such as Lightroom 5.
Anyway, here is a youtube video that provides tutorials on Canon's free editing software Digital Photo Professional ... it is a bit old but it has 19 tutorials, you might find latest versions elsewhere in youtube ... happy learning.
Canon Digital Photo Professional Tutorial - What is DPP (1/19)

 

[Menace]

Kea - a New Zealand icon

 

[Rienzphotoz]

Kea - a New Zealand icon

Nice shot ... I like sharpness and clarity of the little feathers next to the bird's beak ... stellar stuff.

 

[Menace]

Kea - a New Zealand icon

Nice shot ... I like sharpness and clarity of the little feathers next to the bird's beak ... stellar stuff.

Thanks Rienzphotoz

 

[Northstar]

Jock....I'll give you my thoughts.

With the sigma 150-500 at 500, it's just not a real sharp lens at 500, even at f8, decent but not great. But there are a couple things you could do to help get better focus and sharpness.

First, with faster moving subjects, I really like to shoot at twice the focal length....1/1000 in this case with your 500mm. You were at 1/640...so I think this will help. With the 500mm and flying birds, 1/1000 is your absolute minimum..IMO.

Second...learn to use a good editing tool to improve contrast, sharpness...etc. I did a two minute edit on my iPad to your first photo, just cropping, straightening, and sharpening....it helps. I used snapseed..it's free.

Good luck sir!

Original and the edit

I can’t thank you enough Northstar, I will try Snapseed as you have recommended, sounds like it will suit my needs perfectly with my current kit, Microsoft Picture Manager does not have a “sharpening” tool and this is the only program I have used this far, just for cropping or increasing/decreasing colour, brightness etc.

I really appreciate your critique as I knew that the IQ errors were down to the dodgy user rather than the lens, I will increase my shutter speed next time I’m out, and would an increase to f10/12 help too? As in will more of the bird be in focus if I’m using spot metering??

Again, thanks for your help.

Jock...as Rienz wrote, f11 would give you several more feet of DOf and slightly better sharpness...BUT, you shouldn't bump up the ISO on the t2i past 800 or it will start getting noisy, so keep that in mind.

I posted a link to a handy online tool for learning about DOF at different settings. At f8 you have plenty of DOF if the birds are 70 meters away or more. At 70 meters( I'm guessing the distance based on looking at the photo) and 500mm f8, you have 6 meters of dof....that should be plenty of dof.

Also...if you haven't seen it, the digital picture has a lens sharpness comparison tool. Plug in your sigma at 500 and compare to other lenses.

http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=683&Camera=453&Sample=0&FLI=5&API=2&LensComp=113&CameraComp=453&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=7&APIComp=2

 

[Northstar]

Kea - a New Zealand icon

Nice shot....a true bird portrait! Like the details in the beak.

 

[Click]

Kea - a New Zealand icon

Another nice shot Menace.

 

[dolina]

Brown Shrike (Lanius cristatus) by alabang, on Flickr

The Brown Shrike is a migratory species and ringing studies show that they have a high fidelity to their wintering sites, often returning to the same locations each winter.[20][21][22] They begin establishing wintering territories shortly on arrival and their loud chattering or rattling calls are distinctive. Birds that arrive early and establish territories appear to have an advantage over those that arrive later in the winter areas.[23][24] The timing of their migration is very regular with their arrival in winter to India in August to September and departure in April.[25] During their winter period, they go through a premigratory moult.[20] Their song in the winter quarters is faint and somewhat resembles the call of the Rosy Starling and often includes mimicry of other birds. The beak remains closed when singing and only throat pulsations are visible although the bird moves its tail up and down while singing.[5][26]

The breeding season is late May or June and the breeding habitat includes the taiga, forest to semi-desert where they build a nest in a tree or bush, laying 2-6 eggs.[27]

They feed mainly on insects, especially lepidoptera.[28] Like other shrikes, they impale prey on thorns.

Small birds and lizards are also sometimes preyed on.[29] A white-eye (Zosterops) has been recorded in its larder.[5] They typically look out for prey from a perch and fly down towards the ground to capture them.[30]

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_Shrike

Location: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muntinlupa

Settings: 1/400 ƒ/5.6 ISO 2500 800mm

 

[Synkka]

Ripper shots, I really love the Kea Menace. Dolina yet another great shot!

Little Pied Cormorant sunning before it nests for the night.

little-pied-cormorant by Synkka~, on Flickr

 

[mackguyver]

Ripper shots, I really love the Kea Menace. Dolina yet another great shot!

Little Pied Cormorant sunning before it nests for the night.

little-pied-cormorant by Synkka~, on Flickr

Great shot and what a beautiful bird. I love seeing all of the other species from other parts of the world - I've never seen one of these or many of the other birds you guys on the other side of the world are posting. Keep up the great work!

 

[Click]

Little Pied Cormorant sunning before it nests for the night.

Great shot Synkka. Well done.

 

[Crapking]

Early Bird by NAVBPhotos, on Flickr

 

[petach]

Jock....I'll give you my thoughts.

With the sigma 150-500 at 500, it's just not a real sharp lens at 500, even at f8, decent but not great. But there are a couple things you could do to help get better focus and sharpness.

First, with faster moving subjects, I really like to shoot at twice the focal length....1/1000 in this case with your 500mm. You were at 1/640...so I think this will help. With the 500mm and flying birds, 1/1000 is your absolute minimum..IMO.

Second...learn to use a good editing tool to improve contrast, sharpness...etc. I did a two minute edit on my iPad to your first photo, just cropping, straightening, and sharpening....it helps. I used snapseed..it's free.

Good luck sir!

Original and the edit

I can’t thank you enough Northstar, I will try Snapseed as you have recommended, sounds like it will suit my needs perfectly with my current kit, Microsoft Picture Manager does not have a “sharpening” tool and this is the only program I have used this far, just for cropping or increasing/decreasing colour, brightness etc.

I really appreciate your critique as I knew that the IQ errors were down to the dodgy user rather than the lens, I will increase my shutter speed next time I’m out, and would an increase to f10/12 help too? As in will more of the bird be in focus if I’m using spot metering??

Again, thanks for your help.

Re Snapseed, I think it only saves/outputs at 72dpi on the ipad. What started as a reasonably sized file can be squeezed mercilessly by it. I have had files of 5 or 6 mb when cropped by 50% reduced to below 1mb.

 

[ERHP]

Kea - a New Zealand icon

Great detail in the feathers! Looks like that beak could be used to open cans.

 

[ERHP]

One of the local Brown Pelicans came by for a visit. 600 f/4 v2 w/1.4TC