Critique Little Egret,a little far away,'aving a scratch

[Stuart Philpott]

Little Egret my first ever seen ,so it's already got ice in it's veins. A bit out of reach, so an impromtu and extra-ordinarly smooth co-ordinated extender change due to 4 hands being in action not two (shaz is the best assistant to a wanna be togger out there) fell short by seconds. So this is the 1.4extiii combined with my 300 f/3.8 is. Frankly I know it's to be too big a crop,but it is a tricky bird exposure wise and I feel it's worth popping up,a few of us have mentioned struggling a bit with this very white bird,so 'ere goes.I thried some shots aginst the sky but didn't like the results much failed dismally really,but preferred what happend with the bird against the something The sky is very pale grey thin cloud, Pretty bright really although rightly or wrongly i'm higher on the iso ,I wanted a fast shutter to try and minimise and movement at a subject much too far away and obviously old foot was going a bit.,It's really a calculated grab shot,but hell I've never seen one before so i'll look back at this. It's taken from a wooden hide at a wildlife trust nature reserve just outside cov. called brandon marshes,nice place I stuggled with the hide shooting but oystercaters herons common terns green sandpipers kez maggies blackheaded gulls little egret hobby and on and on all seen. but rarely good photo ops for the sheer abundance of life. Most was out of reach really for a 300,cool place worth a recce some amazing kingfisher images have been taken here,not getting the chances is by and large luck on a first visit anywhere. We just missed out at one hide,but that's all part of the fun. The wildlife trusts do some good work so a fiver for the two of us is cool with me open till when you go. Hope it's ok for me to digress a bit but with some luck and or persistance I think this is worth a stop by for folks close enough.
Crit fun learning all welcome
Canon 1Div
ss 1/5000
f/4
iso 2500 hand held resting off the hide ledge and corner
Thoughts on anything are cool,I wanted a bit more to the right but it was all out of focus veg that does nothing for me,processed in DPP4 Some of the blacks are blown my fight was to get the bird something like I've pulled back highlights and contrast. even with softer light i think I'm pushing both ends of the histogramme in this shot ,I've moved the midpoint slightly right in gamma click WB and I think that's about it
cheers for the previous help thoughts etc


_70F6312 by Stuart Philpott, on Flickr

take care all

Stu

 

[Kodiak Qc]

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This rendition is a tad too dark, Stu. Brighten up a
bit and recover the highlights as you see needed.

 

[wezza13]

Hi Stu,

For a record shot, it's pretty good.

I notice the SS you were at though? 1/5000 and 2500 iso. For Egrets I normally use 1/1000. That would've dropped your iso by a ton. With more detail you could possibly crop in further.

They really are a pain to get the exposure correct on though, aren't they?

 

[gramps]

You have kept the whites pretty well, much better than I've been doing recently, I guess the shade helped.
Like Wez I'm surprised at 1/5000, even with it having a scratch I don't think you needed that, 1/1000 - 1/1600 would have been fine IMO

 

[Stuart Philpott]

Thanks lads,points taken on board and many thanks. i'm really grateful both for Daniel's comment and yours Wez and Roger My techs aren't honed guys I see it as a failing of mine, I have much work to do here !! I think that maybe i'm almost habitually pushing the shutter too far,if I have any light that is Sure I feel that is what I want to do I'm always HH and technique just can't be at it's best yet.,but I go much too far at times.As above I wanted to stop that foot but there is more at play here. in my overal picture taking. I'm very grateful you both raised this point,just shows what one can learn by knowingly posting something that isn't right. But hey,it's my first LE so a cool moment but this will arm me if I get a better chance next time .
Daniel cheers buddy I do seem to like slightly underexposed images ,i don't think it has anything to do with monitor brightness,it's a choice i'm making .it's really cool having your thoughts on this.

Roger i'm learning making howlers and also getting the odd pic that makes me smile when I see me do a few bits right and this gear shine when it's used somewhat how it should be. But instinctively i want that bird somewhere on the darker side I suppose an artistic choice not a technical choice. Couple that with the light buddy and I strongly suspect that's why I dd better on the whites.Luck really bro, nowt more. I had a blinding chance with some grey wags mate harsh light and an utter failure to deal with that left me with so little, ,Ahh mate there should have been some lovely stuff in that meeting and I'll lay odds some stonkers in your set. Head up mate, we are confined by what a sensor can physically record. It's such a XXX I love shooting in the sun .

cheers guys

Stu