Kempton Tit pics

[htcdude]

Visited Kempton Nature Reserve at the weekend, the feeders right outside the hide give great opprtunity for pics! Still don't understand why my pics aren't as clear cut as most people's




Nige

[KentYeti]

Sunshine would have sharpened them up bit. Did get some at last here in mid Kent this afternoon.

You can amost hear that tit saying, "whose eaten all my peanuts?"

[thebeard]

i'd be very pleased with them mate, looks like they were taken in low light, and the birds have come up pretty crisp, despite a small focal length

[htcdude]

Thanks for the replies.

Yeah it was very overcast and grey.

Would I be better not zooming in as much to get it crisper? I don't really know the technical side of photography yet!

Nige

[googler]

It's difficult to say why you're having trouble with the pics without more detail;

Was the camera on a tripod?
If it's an SLR, what lens are you using?
What shutter speed had you selected?
Were you using the camera on auto or manual focus? If auto, what was the camera focusing on? Does it have different focus modes?

Answers to all these will shed some light on your problem.

[htcdude]

Originally Posted by googler

It's difficult to say why you're having trouble with the pics without more detail;

Was the camera on a tripod?
If it's an SLR, what lens are you using?
What shutter speed had you selected?
Were you using the camera on auto or manual focus? If auto, what was the camera focusing on? Does it have different focus modes?

Answers to all these will shed some light on your problem.

Canon 450D w/ 70-300mm telephoto. It was on 300mm, no tripod, auto focus with all 9 focal points enabled. No tripod
Set to aperture priority, ISO400, exp was 1/125 sec

Nige

[David Hyde]

Originally Posted by htcdude

Canon 450D w/ 70-300mm telephoto. It was on 300mm, no tripod, auto focus with all 9 focal points enabled. No tripod
Set to aperture priority, ISO400, exp was 1/125 sec

Nige

Hi Nige, I liked your photos. The most obvious problem seems to be the low light which will lead to using maximum apertures and slow shutter speeds.
1/125 second is fine if you were using a tripod or a beanbag. Tits at a feeder are very quick and active, I think you have done well to get the shots you have.
I would go back on a brighter day with a camera support of some kind. Try and stop down little from maximum aperture. I would start with my ISO at 200 and see what shutter speeds come up. If the feeder is sharp and the birds are not then consider upping the shutter speed and ISO but don't be too impatient, most shots with these subjects are likely to be rejects.
Good luck, David

[htcdude]

I will try that thanks. I did have a lot of worse pics as well, basically just snapped away and picked the best. Good ol' digital

Nige

[googler]

For nippy little birds like these, I'd always try shutter priority and go for the fastest shutter speed I could. Certainly for 300mm focal length I'd be trying for 1/250th or higher.

If you can narrow down the autofocus to the central point and centre on the bird, that may help - the camera may be reading some of the points off the feeder, and some from open space and that could be throwing it off slightly.

Alternatively, switch to manual focus and centre yourself on the bird.

[htcdude]

Originally Posted by googler

If you can narrow down the autofocus to the central point and centre on the bird, that may help - the camera may be reading some of the points off the feeder, and some from open space and that could be throwing it off slightly.

Yeah I think with some shots I focused the central point on the bird, then moved slightly so the bird was off centre.

manual focus

That never seems to work for me

Thanks for the tip though, will try faster shutter speed next time

Nige