First venture into the world of CT ...

chewyuk

chewyuk

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Name
Neil
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I had a little time to myself on Boxing day and we were down in Pembrokeshire for Christmas, so I thought what better way to start to have a crack at some bird portraits...

I can see how addictive this may become.
Here's my first 2 efforts:

Robin and a female Chaffinch I think, happily stand corrected on that !!

Think I need a less cluttered background, but liked the moss!
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Perhaps the shot is a little cluttered?
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Cheers,
Neil
 
LOL. That's enough now...these are far too good! ;)
 
Great shots Neil (y) Now you have the bug , guess next time i visit Cardiff we will be chasing them Jay's :LOL:
 
chewyuk said:
Come on master, give us some of your tips, framing these little blighters is quite tricky !
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OK Grasshopper. :D

Solid tripod.... essential.

Gimbal head.... Perhaps not essential but highly desirable, and gets essential as the lenses get longer. I don't really think of the tripod as avoiding camera shake - more as a sort of gun platform to enable smooth tracking of the bird and this is where the gimbal head pays dividends. You really need to get the single AF point over the head of the bird to guarantee a sharp shot and DOF gets less as the lenses get longer.

Trying to hand hold a heavy lens and keep that singe AF point over the eye of the bird is well nigh impossible and it wont be long before you're dithering like a jelly. A gimbal head makes this much easier... you can keep the AF point where you want it with no stress and wait for that nice pose or opportune still(ish) moment to press the shutter.

Using a solid tripod and a gimbal head will show immediate improvement in your shots probably more than any other single thing. I cant over emphasis the benefits!! I use the gimbal head with the 500L, 100-400L the 70-200 2.8L and even the 180L macro. Once the camera/ lens combo is balanced on the head around it's centre of gravity you can point the camera where you like - virtually with one finger.


Long lenses are an obvious advantage, but they're no magic answer to great shots - you'll still need to get much closer than you think to really resolve that fine feather detail.

That's the bones of it really. The rest is down to a bit of guile and getting those birds to land within range and preferably in a nice photogenic setting. In a garden setting it's easy to get the odds on your side with a bit of careful planning and preparation.

I always shoot in Servo AF Mode... one AF point enabled.
 
Congrats on the pics Neil ...love the little Chaffy. (y)

Ive not used my tripod yet, I tend to spend ages hiding in the bushes with my 70-200mm... wobbling like a jelly as CT says. :LOL:

So CT, how close would you say you (normally) get to your little feathered friends?
 
there both classic shots with good colour and sharpness .
perhaps see them in the 800 widest aspecialy the robin.

as for the tripod on the 70-200 no need?

many thanks
jason
 
InaGlo said:
So CT, how close would you say you (normally) get to your little feathered friends?
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That's difficult really as it depends on the lens, but taking the 500mm as the obvious example, and sans converter - if we're talking about tit sized (ooer) birds I'd say 15 or 20 feet. You'll still have to crop heavily but there should be enough pixels left under the bird to show that great fine feather detail which makes all the difference. As the range increases, by the time you've finished cropping, the reduction in pixels coupled with any image degradation due to noise, tends to start taking the edge off the images.

When you move on to say Blackbird Thrush and Magpie sized birds you can obviously increase the range as it's easier to fill the frame.

Tiny tit sized birds are the problem really, you just end up cropping more than you'd like regardless of how close you manage to get.

I get some of my best (most detailed) shots with the 70-200 2.8L at around 5 or 6 feet but I still have to crop fairly heavily.
 
j.palmer said:
as for the tripod on the 70-200 no need?

many thanks
jason
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Jason, Im a mere female who really feels the cold & have zero strength in my upper body.
For me, an hour standing in the bushes with a 70-200mm dangling at the ends of my wrists, probably means I should at least start using the monopod, which I intend to start doing this week.
I darent imagine moving up to longer lenses, neither my arms nor wallet could take the strain!

CT said:
I get some of my best (most detailed) shots with the 70-200 2.8L at around 5 or 6 feet but I still have to crop fairly heavily.
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The closest I can manage in my garden so far, is about 10ft.
Im getting the 1.4tc this week so Im hoping that will help me see some improvement.
Im also in the process of making a rustic feeding table (titter ye not!) so we'll see if I fare any better with that!
 
Glo go girl - the TC is a good move. (y)

If you've only got a ball head you can still use it, but you need to avoid having to mess with knobs and levers. Get comfortable with the tripod set up and preferably sitting down. Take hold of the camera with your right hand and slack off the ball head so you can move the camera up and down and pan in any direction. Slack it off just enough to free the head and feel just a smidge of resistance. You need to keep hold of the camera obviously, as it wont be balanced as it would be on a gimbal head, but it will take all the stress out of the situation and really enable you concentrate on keeping that single AF point on the bird's head. Just remember to nip the head tight any time you need to take your hands off. Wrap up warm and comfortable and you can't fail with a bit of patience.

I got loads of shots like this before I got a gimbal head.
 
CT - Great advice. Tripod essential although in the case of these two, both handheld on the 100-400. Again my folks are massive and very avid garden and bird people and have rather luckily a lovely place right on the coast which helps attract some cracking birdlife.

The gimbal head I think is a purchase which is on the horizon, my ball head and legs are just too heavy, although it helps massively with my landscape stuff.

In terms of the set-up the Robin has become a personal favourite of my Mums so it has become used to being fed daily bread, so was an easier one to capture. I found the framing of the bird without a massively distracting background really tough. In the end I though the green moss would make a pleasant foreground and just hoped the bokeh would be enough (not quite) now I need that faster lens!!

The Robin is shot at almost eye level so looks more pleasing to the eye and you definately get a better perspective at that level. The lady Chaffinch I was shooting down on top of it from about 12 feet away.

This is all very addictive !!

(will post another grab shot for a quick ID, as a relative nebie to this bird lark (no pun intended) :) I need a hand IDing! )
 
Sheep said:
Ok i suppose i could google it but what is a 'gimbal' head please?
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There's a few on the market and they tend to be horribly expensive, but they're well engineered bits of kit. The best buy without a doubt is the Manfrotto 393 at just under a 100 quid and it comes with a mounting plate. I'd have no hesitation in recommending one.

Manfrotto 393
 
No Idea on the ID but the other two are great images (y)
 
Sheep said:
Thanks CT but what does it do over any other head that makes it special?
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It's the cheapest gimbal head you can buy as far as I know. I dunno how they sell it for the dosh tbh.
 
chewyuk said:
CT - Great advice. Tripod essential although in the case of these two, both handheld on the 100-400.
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You will get sharp shots hand held but you'll get a lot more unsharp ones. At least with a tripod you only have to worry about the bird's movement, not your own - particularly when you're really pushing your luck with the shutter speed. The other thing is that lifting the lens to your eye is a massive movement and quite likely to spook the birds. With the camera supported you can keep those movements slow and stealthy.
The gimbal head I think is a purchase which is on the horizon, my ball head and legs are just too heavy, although it helps massively with my landscape stuff.
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I have a very expensive Gitzo carbon fibre tripod which is great and easy to cart around. I also have a massive heavy old Benbo which I'd use by choice any time as long as I don't have to carry it far! :D

This is all very addictive !!
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LOL. Yep! ;)
 
:)
So what you are actually saying is that I need to keep the head I have, just buy more legs and another head !! ;)

Totally agree on the pod front, just wasn't practical this time, I have plenty of shaky Robin shots as well I can share!
Thanks CT for assistance, think you may well be geting PM'd a fair bit over the next few months :)
 
chewyuk said:
:)
So what you are actually saying is that I need to keep the head I have, just buy more legs and another head !! ;)
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I dunno what head you have, but as far as the legs go - the heavier the better. Obviously there's a limit to what you'll wanna hump around though - that's why I have two tripods and a monopod. I love my battered old Benbo though. It takes a bit of getting used to but it's great. You can easily raise and lower the tripod a leg at a time even with heavy gear mounted on it .

Thanks CT for assistance, think you may well be geting PM'd a fair bit over the next few months :)
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You're more than welcome mate -and will be. ;)

Not sure on your ID btw. Dunlin perhaps.
 
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