Going to a wetlands reserve with hopefully lot of pic related
What can i quickly read to get an idea of tips for composition/etc?
The technical details of exposure/etc I have down.
>>2768282
fill the frame
be patient
focus on the eyes
be ready
pic isnt really a great example because i missed focus on the eyes but he popped out in front of me like 10-15 ft away and thats the best i could do
what camera/lens?
[EXIF data available. Click here to show/hide.]
Camera-Specific Properties: Camera Software Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 6.3 (Windows) Image-Specific Properties: Horizontal Resolution 99999999 dpi Vertical Resolution 99999999 dpi Image Created 2016:02:13 18:23:19
>>2768286
So the rule of 3rds doesn't apply to birds as much then? because normally you'd try to shoot your subject on the left 1/3rd or right 1/3rd position, right?
>>2768286
>focus on the eyes
Sounds pretty hard for a moving one (i don't hope to get that on this first time) but i'll try that for stationary, thanks.
I just have an entry level dSLR and lenses. If i can't get any decent bird pictures I'll still have some nice landscape/waterscape[if that's a word] photos, some more experience, get some time outdoors, and get some photos /p/ can tear apart about how bad they are
>>2768288
it still does, but lots of times, at least for me, you have to crop at least some, unless you have a huge lens. my biggest only goes to 300mm so sometimes, especially for smaller birds, you have to crop and you can play with comp then. its not easy getting really close to fill the frame
[EXIF data available. Click here to show/hide.]
Camera-Specific Properties: Equipment Make RICOH IMAGING COMPANY, LTD. Camera Model PENTAX K-3 Camera Software Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 6.3 (Windows) Sensing Method One-Chip Color Area Focal Length (35mm Equiv) 450 mm Image-Specific Properties: Horizontal Resolution 99999999 dpi Vertical Resolution 99999999 dpi Image Created 2016:02:02 18:20:57 Exposure Time 1/400 sec F-Number f/8.0 Exposure Program Not Defined ISO Speed Rating 400 Lens Aperture f/8.0 Exposure Bias 0 EV Metering Mode Spot Flash No Flash, Compulsory Focal Length 300.00 mm Rendering Normal Exposure Mode Auto White Balance Manual Scene Capture Type Standard Contrast Normal Saturation Normal Sharpness Normal Subject Distance Range Distant View
>>2768295
yeah, i have basically the entry level lenses, so I have a 75-300mm w/o IS and a 50-250mm with IS.
Figured since it's bright i'll start with the 300mm, but it's gonna suck because I have really unsteady hands.
(Might be worth trying a monopod or something in the future, but dont wanna get ahead of myself)
>>2768288
Just get the fucker in frame and in focus. You're going to rely on burst here (even the best rely on burst for shooting birds). Also, you're going to crop afterwards in most cases unless you have a stupidly long lens (like a 500mm on a crop with a 1.4 teleconverter) .
In general better bird pictures have the bird looking toward you or with their head turned toward you, or are a profile of them, or are them doing stuff.
If your camera has a trap focus mode, that could be kinda useful here.
>>2768298
>but it's gonna suck because I have really unsteady hands
shake from your hands shouldnt be a huge deal, since youll not only want to shoot faster than 1/300 sec for your 300mm but you generally want to shoot faster than about 1/1000 sec for moving subjects.
pic related, forgot to increase shutter speed, so theres blur
[EXIF data available. Click here to show/hide.]
Camera-Specific Properties: Equipment Make RICOH IMAGING COMPANY, LTD. Camera Model PENTAX K-3 Camera Software Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 6.3 (Windows) Sensing Method One-Chip Color Area Focal Length (35mm Equiv) 450 mm Image-Specific Properties: Horizontal Resolution 99999999 dpi Vertical Resolution 99999999 dpi Image Created 2016:02:06 17:36:31 Exposure Time 1/500 sec F-Number f/7.1 Exposure Program Not Defined ISO Speed Rating 100 Lens Aperture f/7.1 Exposure Bias 0 EV Metering Mode Spot Flash No Flash, Compulsory Focal Length 300.00 mm Rendering Normal Exposure Mode Auto White Balance Manual Scene Capture Type Standard Contrast Normal Saturation Normal Sharpness Normal Subject Distance Range Distant View
>>2768299
Thanks
>trap focus
is that AI Servo on canon? I haven't used it but am interested to see how the target tracking focus works
>>2768302
vs this shot where i had a faster shutter speed and frozen feathers
[EXIF data available. Click here to show/hide.]
Camera-Specific Properties: Equipment Make RICOH IMAGING COMPANY, LTD. Camera Model PENTAX K-3 Camera Software Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 6.3 (Windows) Sensing Method One-Chip Color Area Focal Length (35mm Equiv) 450 mm Image-Specific Properties: Horizontal Resolution 99999999 dpi Vertical Resolution 99999999 dpi Image Created 2016:02:06 17:22:56 Exposure Time 1/1000 sec F-Number f/8.0 Exposure Program Not Defined ISO Speed Rating 250 Lens Aperture f/8.0 Exposure Bias 0 EV Metering Mode Spot Flash No Flash, Compulsory Focal Length 300.00 mm Rendering Normal Exposure Mode Auto White Balance Manual Scene Capture Type Standard Contrast Normal Saturation Normal Sharpness Normal Subject Distance Range Distant View
>>2768302
damn, nice photo man
What method did you use to get the focus on the head on the first? Trap like you mentioned?
>>2768305
i usually just use single point autofocus (AF.S on pentax) i tried using continuous focus to track moving subjects (AF.C) yesterday, but it didnt work very well and i'd sometimes get the background behind the subject in focus or the body in focus vs the head >>2768286 was taken in AF.C, >>2768295 >>2768302 >>2768304 were taken in AF.S
but i just focused on the eyes and shot, the bird was flying at me so it wasnt hard to track his head and get focus
>>2768302
nice halos faggot
>>2768308
Where are the halos? I'm unfamiliar with the term apart from angelic halos
>>2768308
>halos
what?
I never thought about it, but on a completely clear day, is the amount of light present basically constant over the whole day?
If not, then there'd be an ideal time, actually an ideal instant, to shoot.
also keep your lens prefocused to infinity so it doesnt hunt through the zoom range
>>2768328
thanks, i never would have thought of this.
Unrelated but that just made me thin about something
Prefocus makes perfect sense as a concept, including setting it and waiting for your subject if you know that he is going to move into it.
Has anyone created (either officially or as a firmware hack) a way to automatically trigger the shutter when an object moves into a certain position?
For instance you could do it by triggering when certain pixels become a certain color (or rather, change from what they are in the pre-focus situation)
>>2768332
>Has anyone created (either officially or as a firmware hack) a way to automatically trigger the shutter when an object moves into a certain position?
>For instance you could do it by triggering when certain pixels become a certain color (or rather, change from what they are in the pre-focus situation)
That's kinda like trap focusing. Trap focusing is a setting where you hold the shutter release and the camera doesn't actually open the shutter until something in focus crosses the selected focal point.
No modern nikons do this...not sure about canon though.
>>2768307
In AF.C use Select 9 AF zones. It is where the middle nine points are highlighted in light red and the center is red. You aim with the center, that is where the first AF acquisition is then it will try to track it in the surrounding zones. You can move this 9 point zone but can only be selected in AF.C. Goes by the name S-9, S-25 and S-27.
For more unpredictable/faster/smaller birds use the bigger zone or the whole area with the same center weighted AF. Makes aiming more precise and tracks quite fine.
I was able to track a jumping and thrashing RC helicopter and small birds in flight with a crappy telephoto.
>>2768338
All Pentax do this, goes by the name Catch-in-focus on newer models.
>>2768427
Oops, my bad, those settings are SEL-9, SEL-25 and SEL-27. You can fine tune it with the Hold AF Status setting in custom settings.
I usually shoot with focus priority so it makes sure the AF point is in focus before firing the shutter.
that was fun
i did not expect it to clip so hard on white birds though
took a shot at 1/3rd EV steps down to -2, want to see if i can/should shoot down and correct in post on the raws.
not OP but today i learned that shooting when its snowing is about useless
[EXIF data available. Click here to show/hide.]
Camera-Specific Properties: Equipment Make RICOH IMAGING COMPANY, LTD. Camera Model PENTAX K-3 Camera Software Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 6.3 (Windows) Sensing Method One-Chip Color Area Focal Length (35mm Equiv) 450 mm Image-Specific Properties: Horizontal Resolution 600 dpi Vertical Resolution 600 dpi Image Created 2016:02:14 14:36:33 Exposure Time 1/1250 sec F-Number f/8.0 Exposure Program Not Defined ISO Speed Rating 320 Lens Aperture f/8.0 Exposure Bias 0 EV Metering Mode Spot Flash No Flash, Compulsory Focal Length 300.00 mm Rendering Normal Exposure Mode Auto White Balance Manual Scene Capture Type Standard Contrast Normal Saturation Normal Sharpness Normal Subject Distance Range Distant View
>>2768561
got maybe one that doesnt look like garbage
[EXIF data available. Click here to show/hide.]
Camera-Specific Properties: Equipment Make RICOH IMAGING COMPANY, LTD. Camera Model PENTAX K-3 Camera Software Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 6.3 (Windows) Sensing Method One-Chip Color Area Focal Length (35mm Equiv) 450 mm Image-Specific Properties: Horizontal Resolution 600 dpi Vertical Resolution 600 dpi Image Created 2016:02:14 15:13:43 Exposure Time 1/1000 sec F-Number f/6.3 Exposure Program Not Defined ISO Speed Rating 320 Lens Aperture f/6.3 Exposure Bias 0 EV Metering Mode Spot Flash No Flash, Compulsory Focal Length 300.00 mm Rendering Normal Exposure Mode Auto White Balance Manual Scene Capture Type Standard Contrast Normal Saturation Normal Sharpness Normal Subject Distance Range Distant View
>>2768427
i tried that as well but it would keep hunting and refocusing on other stuff when i tried doing shots of birds in trees and still shots so i tried afc with a single focus point and i still prefer single point afs because sometimes i forget or dont have time to change the af setting when going from shooting stills to moving objects
>>2768723
but i should note that i use back-button focusing, and not the shutter release button, so as long as im holding the af button on the back of the camera, its focusing. so i just leave it in AFS and hold the button down if theres a moving subject and it keeps focusing
Not my best. My better ones aren't saved on my computer sorry lads
[EXIF data available. Click here to show/hide.]
Camera-Specific Properties: Equipment Make NIKON CORPORATION Camera Model NIKON D3300 Camera Software Ver.1.00 Maximum Lens Aperture f/4.9 Sensing Method One-Chip Color Area Color Filter Array Pattern 19400 Focal Length (35mm Equiv) 217 mm Image-Specific Properties: Image Orientation Top, Left-Hand Horizontal Resolution 300 dpi Vertical Resolution 300 dpi Image Created 2015:12:27 15:44:22 Exposure Time 1/500 sec F-Number f/5.6 Exposure Program Not Defined ISO Speed Rating 200 Exposure Bias 0 EV Metering Mode Pattern Light Source Unknown Flash No Flash, Auto Focal Length 145.00 mm Color Space Information sRGB Image Width 6000 Image Height 4000 Rendering Normal Exposure Mode Auto White Balance Auto Scene Capture Type Standard Gain Control None Contrast Normal Saturation Normal Sharpness Normal Subject Distance Range Unknown
>>2768769
Not in AF.S it won't. That's the point of AF.S as in AF Single focus. It focuses once, when it finds focus it stays there. You need AF.C for Continuous focusing.
Are you sure it isn't in AF.A?
