Bird shots still not sharp!

yaymond81

yaymond81

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193
Name
Matthew
Edit My Images
No
Took some bird shots the other day but they didn't come out that sharp, got some helpful advice and tried some with a quicker shutter speed, around 1/1250 with ISO 400 aperture between f4.0-5.6, but to me they still don't seem sharp enough, i've done some editing in aperture 3, can anyone help me? :)



Robin by yaymond81, on Flickr

Goldfinch by yaymond81, on Flickr

Great tit by yaymond81, on Flickr

Chaffinch by yaymond81, on Flickr

IMG_3590 by yaymond81, on Flickr

IMG_3594 by yaymond81, on Flickr
 
Hi Matthew, the Robin looks like focus was short of the bird, the Great tit looks like focus was on the branch as well. The Goldfinch looks pretty good consider this might have been from a longer distance, the Chaffinch looks spot on and the Dunnock shots look like they need just a little more sharpening for web display. What focus setting are you using Matthew? You do need to try and use single point if you are not already, no exif available so it is difficult to advise you which way to go with any of your settings :shrug:
 
Thanks Rich, i was using AI focus and manual AF selection, centre point, theres a little progress then? :) Think i need to work on getting them sharper in aperture 3, still learning how to use it, the chaffinch and the dunnock were both shot with 1/1250, 300mm ISO 400, f-5.6, thanks for the comments and advice :)
 
I agree with everything Rich has said. Can I ask what lens you are using?
 
yaymond81 said:
Thanks Rich, i was using AI focus and manual AF selection, centre point, theres a little progress then? :) Think i need to work on getting them sharper in aperture 3, still learning how to use it, the chaffinch and the dunnock were both shot with 1/1250, 300mm ISO 400, f-5.6, thanks for the comments and advice :)
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1/500 should be fast enough, 1/1000 certainly will be, try an aperture of f7.1, not all lenses are sharp wide open, it will also increase your depth of field and give more latitude on focus.

A couple of the shots are backlit, no matter what kit you have you will struggle to produce a decent image. Position yourself with the sun behind you, ideally striking the bird at an angle, this will give definition to the subject and increase the perceived sharpness of the image.

Keep practising ... it's free with digital (y)
 
The advice given between Rich and Martyn is sound, I cant add anything other than to say try what has been said and keep practicing. The 70-300 isnt a bad lens by any means, I used it for a long time when I started, but closing it down a bit as Martyn said will help get the best from it. The chaffy shot is perhaps the best one here, it shows your well onto the right track, the goldy has the right amount of wing blur and its not an easy shot to get, I think you could get a bit more out of that shot in processing. Well done and keep it up (y)
 
Im not sure what advise you recieved in the first thread but here is something I would do.

Put a can of beans (or maybe a can of something a little closer in colour to little brown birds) on a post in your back garden and go take loads of pictures of it at various apertures and review each one in your chosen software. I know the beans are stationary and birds tend not to be but you should easily get sharp shots of a bird at 1/250 sec shutter with your lens at 300mm on a tripod, so as long as you dont go below 1/250 you are acting as if the beans were birds. You should easily see how your lens reacts to different apertures.

Definately follow Martyn's advise and put the sun at your back, or slightly to the side.

One thing that always amazes me, and most people, is how close you actually have to be to the birds. Photo'ing the beans will also let you work out how much you can crop pics before you ruin them.

have fun!
 
Maybe try single shot, centre af point and consider using the back button focusing method whereby the shutter button only locks the exposure and takes the shot

Foolproof way to ensure the shot is what you actually focused on rather than any slight variation
 
yaymond81 said:
Thanks Rich, i was using AI focus and manual AF selection, centre point, theres a little progress then? :) Think i need to work on getting them sharper in aperture 3, still learning how to use it, the chaffinch and the dunnock were both shot with 1/1250, 300mm ISO 400, f-5.6, thanks for the comments and advice :)
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Hi Mathew,sorrow to say this but if you rely on PP for your images to be sharp then you are getting no where :shrug:,try to do it in camera that will make you a better photographer,firstly you must be still ,use some kind of support ie tripod or bean bag,but don,t rely on any software to make your images sharp learn to do it in camera,all the good images on here are sharp before any PP is done,

john.
 
Hey John, I totally agree and understand where your coming from, I wouldn't want to rely on that completely I try to do as little as possible with the editing, I'll just keep practicing until I get there, thanks for the comments :)
 
As for keeping my camera still would it be worth investing in a monopod rather than using a tripod?
 
Matthew, if you get a minute, put up some screen dumps of these images in DPP showing where AF lock was achieved.
 
zeugma said:
Matthew, if you get a minute, put up some screen dumps of these images in DPP showing where AF lock was achieved.
Click to expand...

Good shout and uncropped if you can. They are sharp but the focus looks to be on items in front to the birds on a couple. There is nothing wrong with the chaffinch ones imo. Try DPP it is very good and to see the AF point is very handy. I use it for 95% of all my PP and only go more complicated if changing the image dramatically.

A monopod or tripod are handy to have but trying to carry one round every time you want to go out isn't. I only use mine for macro and landscape so rarley.

With birds or infact most animals focus on the eye where you can, hold the shutter down half way to auto focus and you will also see the IS kick in through the viewfinder as it is not instant. Then it is a matter of squeezing the shutter the rest of the way holding the camera steady with the AF point staying on the eye. Try to slow your breathing down as well if you can and relax. If there is something to lean on or against it helps. If shooting in Tv shutter speed need not be more than 1/500 even at 300mm, think 1x focal length so on a crop camera 300x1.6=480mm so 1/500 faster if you have been out the night before or drunk a gallon of coffee though. If shooting in Av set it to 7.1 or 8 as it will give a slighly higher depth of field and hit your lens sweet spot.

If there is something in front of the subject and you are a long way off say like your blue tit with the bug, which is clearly focused on the branch it is sitting on, the lens might hunt or not be able to focus on the eye as it is too small a subject. You might then have to manual focus, wait for the bird to move or find another with a bug in its mouth but no amount of PP will fix an out of focus shot.

If you really like a shot and it is out of focus try it in black and white.
 
Sorry for the late reply, my broadband has been down since Thursday and not getting fixed till this Thursday, will put some more info on as soon as I can, thanks for the great advice :)
 
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