Critique I See You - Blue Tit.

[Lost_Manc]

Edit: So I tweaked the levels a little and played around with crops but decided I was most happy with my original crop so have stuck with that. I have replaced the image in this OP with the tweaked version. Subtle differences but I feel better.

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So I am quite pleased with this one but also a little disappointed (although maybe being too self critical here).

Stayed at a lovely Treehouse in Wales at the weekend and ended up getting snowed in. So whilst sat on the balcony watching the snow fall and the birds darting about the trees I grabbed the camera to see if I could capture any.

I had observed this or possibly another keep returning to this stump so waited in the hope of another visit which paid off and the result I feel is quite good (I wish the branch wasn't in frame in the lower left, but without a bit of felling it is what it is!).

The bit I'm not too happy with is the heavy crop needed to get the end result (the original is very busy outside the crop and 'loses' the focus imo). Close to 50% of the original and probably some lost quality too.
I just don't have the right lens or the funds right now to get one.
I never intended to start or even thought I would enjoy wildlife photography but it is really growing on me and something I am finding more and more enjoyable.

Anyway as I am enjoying wildlife and bird photography so much I would really appreciate feedback and critique to help me improve and go forward more once funds allow more suitable/useful reach.

For some reason the round trip from LR to DxO and back has stripped the exif but it was:

200mm (300mm effective APSc) (XT-4 & 55-200mm f3.5-4.8)
ISO 1600
f5.6
1/250s

I probably could have opened up to f4.8 (lens widest at 200mm) and shot slightly faster but ISO wise I'm not overly impressed beyond 1600 so have that as my max.

Anyway. The picture.

Blue Tit in the Snow (Cyanistes Caeruleus).jpg by Lost_Manc, on Flickr

Like I say. Would appreciate feedback, criticism and advice.

 

[Micro-four-thirds]

If that was mine I would be really pleased. Well done. I think the birds colours stand out really well with the snowy background and to me the branch isn’t an issue as the bird is looking towards it as if something has caught his eye.

 

[Lost_Manc]

If that was mine I would be really pleased. Well done. I think the birds colours stand out really well with the snowy background and to me the branch isn’t an issue as the bird is looking towards it as if something has caught his eye.

Thank you James. Appreciate the comments.

Like I say, possibly I am being too self critical on this. I am still trying to decide why it 'annoys' me (the crop) so much on this one. Possibly as it almost feels I've had to 'cheat' this composition out of the bigger scene. I don't know!

I do know I am really enjoying the challenge of birds and wildlife though.

 

[G.K.Jnr.]

Very nice wildlife style capture Rob, liking this pic' very much.

"I think it could do with just a tad of brightening & a tad more contrast (but only a tad of each). As for going for a higher ISO I regularly snap with my X-H1 at 3200 ISO and crop without any unduly serious effects"

 

[Lost_Manc]

Very nice wildlife style capture Rob, liking this pic' very much.

"I think it could do with just a tad of brightening & a tad more contrast (but only a tad of each). As for going for a higher ISO I regularly snap with my X-H1 at 3200 ISO and crop without any unduly serious effects"

Thank you George. I appreciate the edit pointers.

I am editing on my laptop these days and just realised I have my brightness on 100% so will revisit and adjust with a darker screen.

As for the ISO on my XT-4 with birds and animals I‘ve found more than 1600 can destroy the fur detail. Outside of that I am happy to go up to 3200 and do. Maybe I am being too picky!

 

[woof woof]

I like the picture Rob and even if it is a crop I bet there's enough here for a very nice print or picture to be viewed on screen?

I like the positioning of the bird and the colours and detail and it certainly looks sharp enough on my screen.

Well taken, cropped and presented Rob

 

[Lost_Manc]

I like the picture Rob and even if it is a crop I bet there's enough here for a very nice print or picture to be viewed on screen?

I like the positioning of the bird and the colours and detail and it certainly looks sharp enough on my screen.

Well taken, cropped and presented Rob

Thank you Alan.

It looks good enough on my 13.whatever“ MacBook so it’ll print that big at least!

Appreciate the feedback.

 

[mex]

To be honest, the crop puts the bird too central for my liking and the snow on the top of the post looks blown, but that should be recoverable, other than that it's a very nice shot.

 

[Lost_Manc]

To be honest, the crop puts the bird too central for my liking and the snow on the top of the post looks blown, but that should be recoverable, other than that it's a very nice shot.

Thank you for taking the time to comment Nigel.

So to address the crop. I too felt it was maybe too central but to avoid bringing more of the lower left branches and 'noise' into the picture I decided to go with it.

For you, how would you attempt to place the subject within the frame?
More to the right and on/around the third?
Would you cut some of the post to achieve that or would/should the post stay complete? I feel complete.

Yes the snow should be recoverable. certainly on the histogram nothing is clipped. I will have another look at that.

 

[the black fox]

It looks fine to me , with wildlife you learn that virtually every photo has to be cropped , birds won’t pose for you , don’t worry about i.s.o either with modern de-noise software 6400 or higher is not a problem .
And there are no set crop sizes rules I do some at 16-9 some at 7-5 and some square or any other combo that suits the subject matter . Just try to leave space for the bird to look into . Well done anyway we all started somewhere

 

[Crotal Bell]

I would be very pleased with that. I like the position of the stump and bird and I don't think the back ground is really an issue.
We can't always have everything exactly as we want (that's life) but IMHO that's a really nice photo of a lovely subject.

 

[mex]

Thank you for taking the time to comment Nigel.

So to address the crop. I too felt it was maybe too central but to avoid bringing more of the lower left branches and 'noise' into the picture I decided to go with it.

For you, how would you attempt to place the subject within the frame?
More to the right and on/around the third?
Would you cut some of the post to achieve that or would/should the post stay complete? I feel complete.

Yes the snow should be recoverable. certainly on the histogram nothing is clipped. I will have another look at that.

Have a play about with it and see what works best, I think you could cut 1/2 to 3/4 of the perch out and a bit off the top too, the photo is about the blue tit afterall. And as mentioned above, don't be too worried about noise, there's a lot of software out there that will sort that for you.

 

[Lost_Manc]

It looks fine to me , with wildlife you learn that virtually every photo has to be cropped , birds won’t pose for you , don’t worry about i.s.o either with modern de-noise software 6400 or higher is not a problem .
And there are no set crop sizes rules I do some at 16-9 some at 7-5 and some square or any other combo that suits the subject matter . Just try to leave space for the bird to look into . Well done anyway we all started somewhere

Thank you Jeff.
In retrospect, I am not overly against the crop and I'm certainly not anti crop or anything I was/am just unhappy maybe that I had to crop so heavily to achieve this result. I can at least blame the equipment and lack of reach available for once!
I am aware of trying to leave space for the subject to look into and generally aim for that regardless of cropping.

Appreciate the comments and input.

I would be very pleased with that. I like the position of the stump and bird and I don't think the back ground is really an issue.
We can't always have everything exactly as we want (that's life) but IMHO that's a really nice photo of a lovely subject.

Thank you Keith.
I too like the chosen crop but equally open to ideas.
With the background I am possibly just being overly critical and negative of my own work. One of the reasons I struggle to post and a reason to join here to try and get out of that.

Appreciate your comments and input.

Have a play about with it and see what works best, I think you could cut 1/2 to 3/4 of the perch out and a bit off the top too, the photo is about the blue tit afterall. And as mentioned above, don't be too worried about noise, there's a lot of software out there that will sort that for you.

Cheers Nigel.

I will play around on some virtual copies and see how things sit.

To address both @the black fox and your own comments regarding noise and me choosing a lower max ISO that more because I feel the XT-4 loses quality above 1600 and certainly above 3200 especially with fine detail such as fur and feather. Obviously this choice has the trade off with my zoom in that its widest apertures are not very wide and if not careful it's very easy to underexpose.
I may have to reconsider this stance and look again, and tbh in hindsight those occasions that I felt the results poor were in bad light anyway so probably more than just high ISO at play.

Anyway, again, thanks for the input from everyone so far. genuinely appreciated.

 

[the black fox]

as stated earlier in this day and age take totally no notice of i.s.o levels this was taken on saturday in a blizzard at iso6400 on a olympus MFT camera ,which are allegedly noisy I'll let you decide
red or dead by jeff cohen, on Flickr

 

[Lost_Manc]

as stated earlier in this day and age take totally no notice of i.s.o levels this was taken on saturday in a blizzard at iso6400 on a olympus MFT camera ,which are allegedly noisy I'll let you decide
red or dead by jeff cohen, on Flickr

Lovely shot.
If I’m not mistaken is that taken at a roughly 750mm equiv focal length? I could do with some reach like that. Limited to 300mm at present at is often far too close and scares off whatever I was hoping to capture!

Like I say. I’m not scared of high iso noise more I feel/felt the quality degraded more than I was happy with, with my equipment but equally accept I probably need to revisit as that opinion was formed in poor conditions so more than just the high iso against the shot. All part of the journey.

 

[the black fox]

Lovely shot.
If I’m not mistaken is that taken at a roughly 750mm equiv focal length? I could do with some reach like that. Limited to 300mm at present at is often far too close and scares off whatever I was hoping to capture!

Like I say. I’m not scared of high iso noise more I feel/felt the quality degraded more than I was happy with, with my equipment but equally accept I probably need to revisit as that opinion was formed in poor conditions so more than just the high iso against the shot. All part of the journey.

I shoot with olympus which is a 2x crop factor , if you look into it you will find a extensive range of cameras and lenses that are lighter , and far less expensive than there full frame or apsc crop alternative brands . And as you can see work extremely well even in poor light

 

[Lost_Manc]

I shoot with olympus which is a 2x crop factor , if you look into it you will find a extensive range of cameras and lenses that are lighter , and far less expensive than there full frame or apsc crop alternative brands . And as you can see work extremely well even in poor light

Thanks for clarifying. Certainly not in the market for a new camera system but should I decide for any reason to switch systems I certainly wouldn't/won't discount MFT of army use cases.