Couple of shots of robins

Rather noisy and soft images (large crops?) and the 1st appears to have a bit of a magenta cast ... I like the composition of #2. :)
 
The second is a rather large crop, but the first isn't. ISO is 1250 and 800 respectively. Any tips on how to get less soft images in future? Thanks.
 
No2 quite a good composition certainly first one does appear noisy,trying to tone down ISO should help somewhat.
GEORGE.
 
16648511 said:
The second is a rather large crop, but the first isn't. ISO is 1250 and 800 respectively. Any tips on how to get less soft images in future? Thanks.
Click to expand...

Conditions obviously weren't great for you, shutter speed of 1/200th is 'adequate' but faster is better with small birds as they are constantly twitching and moving ... how well does the 6D handle low light, could you up the ISO if necessary for a higher shutter speed? What lens were you using, was f4 wide open or was it stopped down from f2.8 ... if wide open then it may not be at its sharpest. Finally have you tested the lens for correct adjustment, i.e. do you know that it isn't just incorrectly adjusted with the camera and needs micro-adjusting (if the 6D allows that).
 
Very helpful, thanks. f4 is wide open, I will try closing it a little and a faster shutter in future, with higher ISO to compensate.
 
The 6D is well known to handle low light superbly, so as long as you're not cropping too much and not underexposing, I'd have no hesitation in going to ISO 3200 when necessary.

What focus mode are you using? For perched birds I suggest you go with a single focus point and ensure it lands bang on the eye. If you look in your first shot, compare the sharpness in the feathers between the eyes to those grey ones around the right shoulder (as we look - the birds left). If you look at the shots in DPP4 you can have the software show where the focus point landed. If the point is always landing on the eye but the focus is still off, then you'll need to consider micro adjustment of the lens, but don't alter anything until you're sure your technique is spot on.

I always recommend staying in AF servo (continuous) as opposed to single shot, as even a slight movement, either by you or the bird will result in the shot being soft otherwise.

You also need to up the shutter speed, 1/200th will give a very low rate of keepers with small twitchy birds. Up the ISO and deal with the noise in PP, at least you stand a chance of having a sharp file to start off with.

Mike
 
Thanks for the helpful comments.

I was using single focus, centre point. I thought I focused on the eye then recomposed, but perhaps it was off. I didn't use AF servo because that wouldn't allow me to recompose the shot without refocusing elsewhere. Here is the focus point from DPP4:

3.PNG
 
Here are two close up clips from the original RAW image, from between the eyes, and on the Robin's left shoulder (our right). I suppose the second is a little sharper?

1.PNG

2.PNG
 
Hi I like the pose of the Robbin in #2 and agree with Roger its a nice composition, however I think even though I like the raindrops on the greenary on the right it takes over to much space in the picture, to me its greater than the subject. With this in mind (as you agree to edits) please consider this contribution. I am new to post processing and have just aquired Affinity photo and did a further crop to isolate the subject. I then did some inpainting to get rid of some distractions selective sharpening of the Robin tweek contrast and applied a little white layer to lift him. As I am no expert it took a while for me to get the nerve to post the edit. I hope you are not upset by my contribution let me know what you think. Any more experienced members please put me right if I am out of order. The fan like background I really like,

someones Robin.jpg
 
Thank you for taking the time to process the image, and to share it. I like the brighter, more exposed bird, but to my eyes, I do prefer the wider (original) crop. There seems to be a little more noise in the processed image - this could be due to the original file being of smaller size? I have uploaded the original RAW image in case you wanted to mess around a little more:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/irixcslqw15ucy8/IMG_1670.CR2?dl=1

You can see how big the original crop was from this.
 
A few more, using a faster shutter this time (1/500 to 1/1000) and trying to make sure they are in focus and sharp.

Robin (1) (Custom).jpg Robin (2) (Custom).jpg Robin (3) (Custom).jpg
 
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