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Jono_90

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Jonathan
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Recently bought myself a Nikon 3200 with the kit lens 18-55mm. Today I just went in my garden to try and get a few photos of birds only really managed to get one decent one, but to say i've just started i'm quite happy with it, I just wondered what opinions people had of it and if i can do anything to improve my photos. I used a guide I found online for the camera settings which were:

Aperature priority mode
Aperature f/5
Auto ISO
Matrix metering
On the lens VR on & switch A/M to A
Focus mode to AF-S & the AF-Area mode to single-point AF

Also does anyone know what kind of bird it is?

11672-1432648828-958a51fb8d5de4a754dd0057b55917ad.jpg
 
It's a blue tit.
 
Can you take the same image with more of the tree in the background rather than the sky?
 
will always be difficult to get a good shot of a small bird with an 18 55mm ..... unless it is very tame

quite a few problems with the image
 
Hi Jonathan

Firstly, welcome to TP !

Secondly, bird-on-feeder shots tend not to be popular unless they show interesting behaviour. Yours is just perched. The image is underexposed on the bird and probably overexposed in the sky hence the comment about having more foliage in the background. Not entirely sure where the focus point is but the convention is to have the eye in focus. The bird is so far away/the lens is so short that there is some but not lots of feather detail.

Thirdly, I think this is a nice record shot given your equipment.

Keep up the good work. Many here can give you good advice.
 
Hi Jonathan. Easy way to get started is to lower the feeder down to eye level and stick a twig through the mesh. A lot of the birds will land on the twig first and hop to the feeder. Take the shot of them on the twig,it looks more natural. Pre focus on the twig so the camera does not have to work too hard when the birds land. Another trick is to put some peanut butter on the twig.

You will struggle with that lens though, ideally for birds on that camera body,a 70-300 would be good.
 
BillN_33 said:
quite a few problems with the image
Click to expand...

Well that`s about as useful as a handbrake on a canoe Bill.If you are going to jump on every thread and answer, then at least give a bit of guidance ;) As Gary and Ade have replied with a bit of advice the best thing you can do Jonathan is just take note and keep practising and keep posting up for more advice.
 
Some good advice above. I would add that the birds will come close if you get them used to a hide being there but I would probably look to pick up a secondhand lens around the 70-300 range as some of these especially by third party makers are pretty cheap. I would also introduce my own attractive perch for the birds to land on before they go to the feeder. I would also place it at the same level as the camera is going to be. Also think a bit about the background, if you can get a couple of metres of free space behind your perch and a nice even colour behind (green hedge for instance) this will make the bird pop out further.

Hope that's useful!

Scott
 
You've got some lovely sharp fat balls but a bit of a soft tit. I'm guessing you were pointing up slightly? As has been mentioned birds with an 18-55 are a bit tough as you need to be quite close - although this shot shows a good working length and some lovely bokeh. The composition is pretty good but your exposure has blown out the sky and underexposed the subject. Couple of options for you to try without the expense of new glass;

Put the feeder on a rope to lower it a little to get a more level angle on it, this should give you the added bonus of a lovely green backdrop.
You could also put the camera on a tripod and use a remote release to get a fair way away - once the birds have sussed out the camera isn't going to eat them they'll get a lot closer then they would if you were holding it.
Use a bit of fill flash - you'll only get one shot before they all scarpa but it would brighten up the subject massively.
Stop down a little to f8 - it'll give you a more useful depth of field in the above composition and would make the image sharper.

I don't speak Nikon but ensure image stabilisation is off if you are using a tripod. In addition, with an 18-55 and a modern camera it's a nice to have - certainly not essential. Providing your shutter speed is above 1/120 you should be fine handholding and taking advantage of the faster focussing.
 
from an amateur perspective I would say that birds are probably the hardest subject to shoot. The images of birds on this site, some of which are mind blowingly good have been taken by people (some above) that have both properly mastered their equipment, the concept of photography and lastly have the experience in shooting fast moving wildlife in all sorts of conditions, and not to mention the patience these guys must have to sit it out for the right shot.

My advice would be keep away from birds for a while until you master the camera and fully understand the relationship between shutter speed, aperture, ISO sensitivity, metering etc. Understand the effects of light and dark backgrounds and be able to set the camera up to deal with these situations. I'm not saying steer clear of birds completely, but the difficult conditions and potential wait for a shot will take too long and more than likely drive you mad.

Best thing you could do is to buy some basic literature to help you understand exposure and camera controls and take hundreds (more like thousands) of photo's. once you understand what you are doing right and wrong you should be in a position to start take photos of wildlife competently, understand the limits of your equipment and maybe invest in a longer and/or faster lens or upgrade your equipment (not that theres anything wrong with what you have)

What I've learned (the hard way) is that you cant just jump in with all the gear and take nice photo's. It takes patience and understanding, and the way I see it, learning with birds is the hard/long way to do it.

Another good way is to install Opanda Exif (I think that's the right program) which enables you to peek into the camera setting of photo's you see here and elsewhere (if the photographer has left them embedded). Flickr is also good where the settings are listed for you.


Apologies if I'm patronising in any way, or if I've misinterpreted your post.

Al
 
Thanks to everyone that has replied so far, I'll definitely take on board everything that's been said, it's good to know there's a place I can come to for advice.

I was shooting upwards slightly on the photo and could've captured more of the tree. I think perhaps for now I'll concentrate on simpler subjects and work my way up once I fully understand everything that I need to know.

Thank you
Jonathan
 
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