first

[cornishrobb]

Right chaps, I've just looked at some of your Birdy pics

I'll let you rip into mine, I will say, It's my first time with the only lens I got at the mo A 70-210mm, not sure what the other settings were, I just shot threw the window

"O" well, here we go

In my garden threw the glass




There ya go

Robb

 

[Martyn...]

Hello Robb

Any digital image needs sharpening, I ran your second through Photoshop Elements, Auto Sharpen, had to save it a touch smaller, but you should be able to see the difference

 

[cornishrobb]

That's cool.
But aren't you supposed to get the photo correct with your camera, without touchup?

 

[Martyn...]

That's cool.
But aren't you supposed to get the photo correct with your camera, without touchup?

Yes ... I didn't do any touch up, I sharpened it.

All digital cameras have an anti aliasing filter, this results in a slight softening of the image. Most digital cameras have the ability to sharpen the image in the settings, or it can be done in post processing, as I did.

You will also lose sharpness when resizing images for the web, so again the need for some sharpening.

 

[zeugma]

As Martyn said. Straight out of the camera = soft image.
When I first started using a digital body I was really disappointed with sharpness, knowing no better. I was comparing mentally with what I got straight out of a film body using a fine grain emulsion. Later I learned that PP sharpening is de-rigeur.

 

[u8myufo]

Hi robb and welcome, thats a good starting point and things will only get closer and more expensive from here on in Martyn has tidied that one up well for you.

 

[cornishrobb]

OK there is one hell of allot I gotta learn

mi lenses will be here next week, so I now got the opportunity to go back and READ :bang:

Thanks very much
Robb

 

[Martyn...]

OK there is one hell of allot I gotta learn

mi lenses will be here next week, so I now got the opportunity to go back and READ :bang:

Thanks very much
Robb

OK then my ideal starting point shooting manual ... 1/500 sec f7.1, ISO I leave on auto, on my D300 its good up to 3200, but if it starts getting too high I can always drop the shutter speed, or open the lens up to reign it back.

1/500sec will freeze any subject movement (may up this for bird in flight to 1/1000), although a fairly static bird 1/250 should be OK.

f 7.1 gives a bit more depth of focus, especially with a telephoto lens when the subject is close, also generally the sweet spot for sharpness of most lenses (expensive f4 & f2.8 lenses are sharp wide open), but again useful for birds in flight keeping them in focus.

Best thing is practice on easy stuff like Pigeons, they are a flying grey card, so easy for the cameras meter to nail the exposure.

If you cannot work something out, ask on here

 

[toonamp]

Another point, a tad obvious, try not to shoot through the double glazing, that does nothing for the clarity either.
I had the same thoughts as you about it has to be right in camera, and yes, the more you can do in there the better, but PP is necesary for the reasons stated, also that when reducing in size to post here, a lot of detail is lost from the original.

That's quite a good edit from Martyn, it shows promise

Oh and welcome to TP