Birds in my garden :D any thoughts on how to improve?

[Zoundz]

OK... well, I'm fairly happy with these shots - but on looking at them, realised my (not entirely attractive ) bird table is in a really awkward spot, and there's a branchy thing behind it, rather distracting from the birds in the photo. I can't rip the branches up - but is there anything else I can do?

The bird table itself is ugly and does make the photographs rather untidy looking - is there anything I can do for this?

other than that, any advice appreciated. All taken with Nikon D80 and Sigma 50-500.















and for fun... this lovely little chap, because he was pulling a wonderful expression! ;D


xx

[SilverW0lf]

Some great photo's there, I've screwed a dead branch (really more of a big twig!) to my bird table in the hope that the birds will land there on the way in...

I got some ideas from the following blog diyphotocheapodepot.blogspot.com/

[Zoundz]

thanks for that! will have a look!

xx

[Tobyh]

I have some clamps from a DIY shop and attach interesting twigs etc onto feeders with them. This at least makes the pictures a little more interesting.

Feeder pictures are ok as record shots but as you have pointed out, they don't make the most attractive addition to your picture.

I also "planted" an old ash tree after drilling holes in the side - with a bit of forethought could then place somewhere that was good for light and relatively clean backgrounds.

Couple of examples - Greenfinch sat right next to my feeders - you'd never know though, the ash twig is freshly cut from elsewhere in the garden. The Coaltit is in the exact same spot, different perch / time of year.





Could also consider a hide, wether home made or bought which will open up some more opportunities.

TobyH

[Geoff F]

You have good sharp images there but they are just a touch on the dark side. There appears to be plenty of hidden detail so I would use the Curves (or Levels) command to add a little bit of extra brightness mostly with the midtones. But make sure you don't overdo it and start to lose any highlights.

[wildlifesnapper]

Hi

yes I would tie or clamp an antractive looking twig or small branch to the table and photograph the birds the that land on it. Dont forget to change it regularly to add variety.
For the background you could try getting hold of a 5/6 foot conifer in a pot and place that behind the twig as a nice uniform background.

neil

[RoseStones]

Hiya, lovely pics there, quite envious actually as I've no garden to get out into living in a flat as we do (mortgages, o mortgages where art thou? ).

Have you thought of adding perhaps a touch of flash for those really dirty dark days in winter that we're all so accustomed to? You'll need an external flash with extender (a lens which focusses the beam onto a distant point), which aren't cheap, but the difference is huge (have a look at some other threads in this forum for more specific info). Don't overdo it though, I'm sure no bird actually enjoys being 'papped with a flashbulb going off every five seconds!

Jim

[Zoundz]

thank you all for some lovely and encouraging comments! I will have to save up for a flash first... the OH is very good and allows me to get lots of nice stuff for the camera, but after the Bigma - I've been told I have to wait until after xmas for more stuff!

I'm not sure what you mean by adjusting the curves? at the risk of sounding totally thick, is that something to do with photoshop? or do you do that in the camera?

The tree behind sounds like a good idea! next properly fine day we have I'll try that.

I think the images being dark is my fault, I am so fanatical about them not being overexposed, I have a peculiar tendency to underexpose instead!

xx

[Geoff F]

The simplest method to improve a dark photo using editing software is to use the Brightness Control and slightly increase brightness. But this tends to lighten an image across the spectrum and is a rather crude method which risks over doing some areas.

Levels or preferably Curves is a bit more difficult to master but is very user responsive and can be adjusted to only affect certain tones.

Here is a tutorial which explains everything in great detail Command Primer

Like so many of these excellent advice sites, it does assume that everybody has the full £1000 photoshop editing suite but the general advice still applies whatever your software.

If you need any more specific advice just ask.

Geoff.

[Geoff F]

Also try this excellent tutorial. There is a lot of very good well explained advice covering everything you will need to know about photography and editing on this site. Using the Photoshop Curves Tool