Novice a few weeks on

[sleipnerofasgard]

just thought i would post a few pics from martin mere on sunday for criticism and tips got some pictures of merlin ,kestrel ,sparrowhawk and a marsh harrier i think but from too far away for most of them i post one of the kestrel which i am reasonably happy with but as it was right above the hide i had to hold the camera so not pinsharp ,anyway here goes

[paulthomas]

Martin Mere can be a tough place for photography unless you're happy to restrict yourself to the captive area. The birds are usually either too far away or so close together that it's impossible to isolate a single bird (especially Pinkies!!!). Of all the raptors I think kestrels are your best chance for a photographic opportuntity because they will hunt close to the hides. I've been to the mere when there were 4 or 5 Marsh Harriers at one time out on the marsh. But none came remotely close enough to photograph. So there's going to be a tremendous element of luck involved in being in just the right place at just the right time. You might want to consider also photographing some of the smaller birds around the feeders (although the feeders you can see from the Jannet Keir hide are a bit too far away and the mesh plays havoc with the camera's AF). There's quite a good little population of Tree Sparrows and old log piles are worth checking out for Wrens and Dunnocks. You may also get things like Great Spotted Woodpeckers visiting the feeders too. Hope this helps.

[StuartDH]

Just one quick thing I noticed is that all of the subjects are virtually in the centre of the frame. It's something that I have a tendency of doing all the time

If you google for some info on the 'rule of thirds' for photography composition then you should be able to find lots of info that will explain how it can improve images

For example, if the last image of the bird had it's head positioned in the top-right of the frame, then you wouldn't get the dead space behind it's head and the direction of it's face would lead the viewer through the image to the bottom left

hope this helps

Stu

[ron1863]

The last one's the best, though StuartDH makes very valid points.

[sleipnerofasgard]

i did take some pictures of a great spotted woodpecker but as the feeders were in the shade the pictures look okay but when i crop the image they seem to be very noisy.the iso was 400 and f5.6 and shutter was 1/250 and images were dark i filled the light with picasa and they are ok but not pin sharp.what could i do to improve this?

[big bill]

Nice images the rules of composition is to leave some room for the subject to move intoso if a bird is flying right -left position the bird to the left with room for it to fly out off on the right you should never try to place your subject smack bang in the middle unless its a close up of the head even then its nice to see the image with some space to look into.
Hope this helps on composition..

[sleipnerofasgard]

here is my favourite shot of the day



even though i got some pictures of sparrowhawk and hen harrier its the ones that get away that annoy the most ie too slow for a tree creeper and a goldcrest today

[glsammy]

Originally Posted by sleipnerofasgard

here is my favourite shot of the day



even though i got some pictures of sparrowhawk and hen harrier its the ones that get away that annoy the most ie too slow for a tree creeper and a goldcrest today

It took me nigh on two years to get a decent tree creeper shot. They're incredibly difficult to get, usually with extremes of lighting conditions at best. Same with Goldcrests, I've got a few shots of them, but none that I would call really good. They're just too darn fast!
So don't be too disappointed with missing those two!

[Gill Catton]

Originally Posted by glsammy

It took me nigh on two years to get a decent tree creeper shot. They're incredibly difficult to get, usually with extremes of lighting conditions at best. Same with Goldcrests, I've got a few shots of them, but none that I would call really good. They're just too darn fast!
So don't be too disappointed with missing those two!

I know what you mean, I spotted a coupple of firecrests when on holiday recently but quickly found that they were waayyyy to fast for me to get a pick even though they were close, so I put my camera down and got my bins out - just enjoyed the opportunity to watch them instead!

[glsammy]

Originally Posted by Gill Catton

I know what you mean, I spotted a coupple of firecrests when on holiday recently but quickly found that they were waayyyy to fast for me to get a pick even though they were close, so I put my camera down and got my bins out - just enjoyed the opportunity to watch them instead!

Yep, I found a site last year that had loads of Goldcrest, saw dozens of them. My Mrs was having a ball watching them through the bins, but me, I was pulling what little hair I had left then well and truly out!
They're not at all shy, in fact my main problem was they were too close! Dancing a few feet above my head, no chance of a shot!