goldfinch

[wrogers]

Hi there
just wondering what you all reckon of my 34th shot with my Sigma 150-500 (first 29 shots were tests in the shop )


Will

[ron1863]

It's nice but I think you need to get a bit closer to your subject and try to get a clean background as all those branches are distracting.

[Ollie]

Hi Will, as Ron said would have been better with a cleaner background.

Don't know what F stop your lens will go to as I'm not familiar with your lens but I see by the exif data it was taken at F9. For the distance you was away from the bird and the angle that the bird is at in relation to your lens I would have tried for a shot at F 6.3 This would have thrown the background a bit more out of focus placing the emphasis on the bird.

I'm not trying to be critical just helpful and for a first shot not in the shop you have done well

[feathered-friend]

Looks good to my untrained eye.

But I was just wondering why the bird is ringed, and by who?

[big bill]

Hello Will I agree with Ollie if you had open up to f8 or f6 this would have thrown the background suffiecently out of focus so as not to fight for attention and detract from your main point of focus which is the Goldfinch.
Its a nice shot too also I think the focusing is slightly a bit soft but not by much just being nick picking but a point to watch it looks like the focusing has locked on the body of the bird whilst it should have been on the eye of the bird just small points but a great image all the same well done.
I have the 170-500mm lens and use settings of f8 with the the camera on AV and normally zoom into about the just below the 500mm mark this seems to work best for this lens maybe you could try that

[squishy]

there are several places in the country where they set up nets to catch, examine and ring small birds

But I was just wondering why the bird is ringed, and by who?

[feathered-friend]

Thanks Squishy.

To monitor bird health and population, I guess.

[Geoff F]

It looks a fine natural shot to me.

Minimum aperture is F6.3 and I find the sharpest range of that lens to be F8-F13 and I'm not that keen on going below F8.

If you really wanted to do something to reduce the background there are several ways to create a blur effect and sharpening the bird, probably doing it on a duplicate layer then combining the two would be best.

Alternatively, a very simple workaround that I frequently use is to draw a freehand selection around the bird. You don't have to be too accurate so long as you draw it just outside of the bird edges. Feather the selection, say 5 pixels, then use a bit of Unsharp Mask which will only apply to the bird and make it look sharper than the background.

Try 50% and 1 or 2 pixels, maximum 3 pixels but possibly with only 30%. But the most important part is to add 1 Level of Threshold. Feathering the selection and adding a bit of Threshold prevents the creation of a distinctive sharpening line around the bird.

[wrogers]

Thanks for the input everyone...

unfortunately the tree they landed in is very twiggy which makes blurring the background an issue (unless you have a 400mm F/2.8!!!)

I will have to put PS on my laptop soon, probably elements since i am a student!!

thanks again for the great response
Will

[Hobjob]

Originally Posted by feathered-friend

Thanks Squishy.

To monitor bird health and population, I guess.

That and much much more.
Much of our information on migration comes from bird ringing.
Its a fascinating field and a vast amount of knowledge has
been accrued from it.

I think there are a few "ringers" on WAB, but google will
reveal much more.

Most ringers are volunteers, and even have to pay for their rings!
Its pretty world wide. there is formal training (3 years!) and
official licences etc..