Beginner My First Attempt at Birds

Nice lighting and colour.

#3 is the cleanest shot and my favourite of the three.

I use a Canon 70D too. I would shoot on Av-mode rather than Automatic and then you can have better control.
 
Ade, the first two are rather spoiled by the feeders being in the shots.

The last one is a decent shot of the bird in habitat.

If you find that you need to crop heavily, then you really need either a longer lens or get closer to the subject. A simple screen could help you get closer, smaller birds seem to get used to things very quickly.
 
1st and last are the best for me, the only problem with the 1st is the twig 'sticking out of its head', but limited control over that apart from cloning it out - good first attempt :)
 
fracster said:
Ade, the first two are rather spoiled by the feeders being in the shots.

The last one is a decent shot of the bird in habitat.

If you find that you need to crop heavily, then you really need either a longer lens or get closer to the subject. A simple screen could help you get closer, smaller birds seem to get used to things very quickly.
Click to expand...

Already looking at longer lens!!!!!! and was shooting from a hide in Slimbridge so really don't have much control over the back ground items

gramps said:
1st and last are the best for me, the only problem with the 1st is the twig 'sticking out of its head', but limited control over that apart from cloning it out - good first attempt :)
Click to expand...

I never noticed that twig, trip to Specsavers me thinks!!!!

But thank for the comments anyway, a long road ahead for sure to get the quality of some of the shots on here.
 
the green finch on the last two looks lovely ,you could do with uploading/downloading whichever way you choose to call it from FLICKR at 1024 pixels ,i tend to upload to flickr as a jpeg after p/p at 1024 pixels on longest edge and downloading to here at the same size .it gives the truest i/q imho .
 
Bird photography is a slippery slope heading towards a very frightened credit card :), and you have made a good start here Ade. We all have our own styles and techniques, but there are a few things to try when you first start, these are the basics for you to build your own style on.

There has been some good advice already offered, but with small birds like these, the closer you can get, or the longer focal length lens you can get the better.
I'm assuming looking at your settings that you were using your lens at the 250mm end, and with a shutter speed of 1/160 for all the shots. You have changed the aperture and ISO for the different shots. At 250mm, the rule of thumb is that you need a shutter speed equal to the focal length when hand holding. That means that at 250mm, you need a shutter speed of 1/250. The 70D is a 1.6 crop sensor, and so the 1/250 should be increased by 1.6 which is 1/400 or nearest above. The IS on the lens will allow you to reduce the speed by a stop or two, but it is preferential for fast moving birds to keep your speed higher.

In the case of the Greenfinch, you would have been better reducing your aperture by a stop and increasing your shutter speed by a stop. Having said that, the Greenfinch is the best shot you have posted.

My standard settings are either manual, or AV, I would suggest AV is the best for you to start with. For birds, generally keep your aperture wide, and if the light is poor, increase your ISO to give you the required shutter speed, then change the shutter speed for different lighting conditions rather than changing the aperture.

Evaluative metering is good for this genre, and use central AF point aimed at the eye. RAW is the best format in my opinion, but if your not conversant with it, I would suggest taking it a step at a time, get used to your shooting techniques first, then move on to RAW.
There's lots more but you do need a starting point and there's nothing to be gained by trying to run before you can walk.

I hope this helps (y)
 
Hi Trev, thanks for taking the time to reply and I really appreciate you tips and guidance here, not only from you but everyone else as well. These shots were a bit of a spur of the moment decision as I have had the camera a few weeks now and not had chance to use it properly other than a few test shots in the house and a few bits of smoke. I have not got the best lens for the job but have to start somewhere I guess. But the advice that has been given so far will stand me in good stead for my next trip out. Luckily for me I only live 5 miles from Slimbridge so have got myself a annual membership so I can get some practice in. I also do a lot of fishing and the camera always comes with me so hopefully will get a few shots in there as well.

If anyone sees a credit card hiding and shaking in the corner, chances are it will be mine as keep looking at a long lens.
 
Uncle buck said:
Hi Trev, thanks for taking the time to reply and I really appreciate you tips and guidance here, not only from you but everyone else as well. These shots were a bit of a spur of the moment decision as I have had the camera a few weeks now and not had chance to use it properly other than a few test shots in the house and a few bits of smoke. I have not got the best lens for the job but have to start somewhere I guess. But the advice that has been given so far will stand me in good stead for my next trip out. Luckily for me I only live 5 miles from Slimbridge so have got myself a annual membership so I can get some practice in. I also do a lot of fishing and the camera always comes with me so hopefully will get a few shots in there as well.

If anyone sees a credit card hiding and shaking in the corner, chances are it will be mine as keep looking at a long lens.
Click to expand...

I'm jumping the gun a bit here, and I know nothing about your budget, but for what your doing, I would suggest taking a look at the Canon 100-400 L lens. It was my first 'L' lens and my first long lens, it was recommended to me by a very experienced wildlife photographer. I still have the lens and its used probably more than any of my lenses even though I now have longer prime 'L' lenses. There's usually some used ones available on the classified forums too. Its better to go for the best you can get now rather than buying a half way lens, and then buying a better one, much cheaper to buy one than two.
 
These are not bad shots but i would look at getting the shutter speed up more on these little birds
 
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