Complete Ludite

[Muggsy]

Until 14 days ago I'd never even held a DSLR, all my photograhy has been done using a compact Olympus C2.

Trouble is now, I'm well and truly hooked, thanks to the experts on this site, putting all those crystal clear and incredibly sharp photos for all to see

so first effort, 1 day after recieving my purchase, an EOS 400D 75-300 canon lense, fully auto everything, camera on a tripod, target a measured 9ft.



apart from the fact its a bit blurred, which shows movement, I was amazed that the bird actually turns itself right over in order to bath properly, made me laugh.
Could the picture be improved with some kind of photoshop program ?

and another I took today, getting braver now, pressing buttons and things ohh, and several more £'s later, now have dedicated flash (not that I used it today) and a cable release, which is fantastic imho.

Its one of goldfinches about to drink and about to have a squabble.

This time I used the camera set on A-DEP 400 ISO at 125
I've resized the picture in MGI photosuite, trimming it to remove a 3rd bird.
Its still lacking that sparkling clarity, even though I was using the cable release so the camera didn't move.

Like to hear comments though, even if its take up fishing

[glsammy]

The blue tit is well caught, good to see some action!

Obviously the conditions had a lot to do with the results, I noticed your shutter speed was only 1/160sec, with an aperture of F5.6, and your ISO was set at 800. That tells me there wasn't too much light around, and what there was is directly in front of you, as you can see by the slightly burnt out edges on the blue tit. It's always difficult to get your metering right when shooting towards the sun.
The fact the ISO was 800 has left your image with some background noise, this is the coloured blobs you can see. I always run my images through Neat Image, to help reduce this noise. You can download Neat Image for free.
You can also sharpen the image, if you've got software such as Photoshop or Photoshop Elements or similar. Just about every Canon DSLR shot needs to be sharpened to some extent. If you've not got any software that can do this, you can set your camera to apply sharpening, this is OK, but not as good or controllable as doing it yourself.
Try shooting on AV mode. I rarely use anything else. If your shooting mainly birds, set your metering to centre, or the nearest available setting, as well as centre focusing.
Hope that's some help.

I've had a little go with your goldfinches:




This is not a bad shot at all, again you've got the sun in front of you, which tends to make you lose detail on anything your taking. Considering this, it's a good shot, but slightly dark. I've balanced the shadows/highlights and applied some sharpening. I didn't run it through neat Image.

[Paul mabbott]

Absolutely nothing to do with your question but why do you use the term 'Ludite' (luddite) to describe, I think, an inability to cope with mechanical things?

The Luddites were actually skilled people who resisted the introduction of machinery. This was actually a "deskilling" process and was, of course, aimed at reducing the numbers of people working and their wages ...

Sorry that this is off topic but I do find it annoying that 'luddite' is used to describe people who are incompetent or "anti-machine" - the Luddites were not the former and only wanted their due share of the benefits of machinery .... Come back Ned!

[naturelover]

hi welcome to the site,love your photoes very nice,i like no 11 the best,look good in a frame on the wall.

[Ollie]

Can't add anything further really to what Graham has said. they are pretty good efforts for first time with a DSLR under not ideal lighting conditions.

Although it's probably early days, as Graham has said again I would try and use AV mode rather than automatic. With AV mode you control the aperture value and the camera looks after the shutter speed itself. Once you get the hang of what aperture combined with what ISO speed to use it will all come together.

One other thing if you are photographing birds that are liable to move or feathers that are likley to blow in the wind I would set the camera focus mode on A1 Servo AF as well

Roger

[Muggsy]

Originally Posted by glsammy

I noticed your shutter speed was only 1/160sec, with an aperture of F5.6, and your ISO was set at 800.

How did you know that and thanks for playing with the image Graham.

Seems I have some work to do around the location. I have considered filling the tank to the top, you can see all the duck weed stuck to the side, the water level is several inches down on what it can be.

I can see that would cause more problems though (thinking while I type) it would bring lots of branches and twigs into shot

There is a building behind me, only a metre and a half away from the tank and the sun at this time of the year is always low and in front of me.

I suppose I could always install a flood light high on the barn wall, shining down into the tank.

At present the birds come to me and I want to take advantage of that fact.

Thanks once again everyone, and you, headmaster

Muggsy

and you Roger, I was typing far too slowly.

[glsammy]

Originally Posted by Muggsy

How did you know that and thanks for playing with the image Graham.



Muggsy

Easy! Every time you upload an image there is hidden EXIF information in the Header. If you install EXIF reader software, which you can get free if you search the internet, It shows all the technical information for any shot, provided your editing software hasn't removed it!

My Garden is much the same, the only sun light I get is usually straight into my camera. At least you get lovely Goldfinches, a bird I never get!

[Muggsy]

Originally Posted by glsammy

Easy!

yeah but I told you I was a ludite innit

sorry, I'll get me coat

In the summer the water supply is used by Whitethroats, both Common and Lesser, Blackcaps, Garden Warblers and lots of other species, but, by then the Elderberry is in full leaf and its like the black hole of Calcutter

As I'm jealous of your birds in flight photos, I had a flock (charm) of 50 plus goldies in that bush above the tank this morning.

Muggsy off to find EXIF and Neat Image

[big bill]

Like whats been said above use the AV mode and and say set an aperture of 5.6 or lower if your lens allows it this will blur the background sufficiently to maintain the focus on the main subject the bird,as to focus use the central focus point on the lens and try to focus on the eye of the bird get the eyes sharp and in focus then the rest of the image will be sharp.
Nice photos though for a first attempt with a Dslr well done but get off the Auto mode and take control of the camera and you will see your images improve with practice

[Muggsy]

it suddenly dawned on me I may not have the skill or even the talent, but I get plenty of chances that many probably dont.

Yesterday, while the sun was shining brightly I let my retired racing pigeons out for excercise.

Pillock, what better chance to practice the flying shots, but then, It didn't occur to me until this morning overcast, cold, pigeons unwilling to fly

Just want to say thanks for all the help and inspiration, hopefully, by the time I leave for Australia in 2 weeks time I may have grasped the basics a little more.

Heres my first attempt at a flying bird, wont win any prizes, unlike the pigeon in the picture has.