Help - What am I doing wrong??

N

nc_killie

POTY (Joint) 2016
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1,299
Name
John
Edit My Images
Yes
Went down to the coast to try and get some terns. I had a relatively high rate of crap photos with regard to focus of birds in Flight.
Please see photo below (forget composition, exposure etc, its all about the focus! Just resized and converted to JPEG but nothing appears to be in focus!
Canon 7D mkii, 100-400 mkii @400

Date/Time: 2017-05-25 13:03:36
Exposure Time: 1/5319 sec
Exposure Program: Aperture priority
Exposure Bias: 0.67 EV
F Number: F 6.44
ISO Speed ratings: ISO 800
Metering Mode: Center weighted average

Would be grateful for your suggestions and help.....or should I just take up tiddlywinks??

To show a problem by nc_killie, on Flickr
 
As above, looks fine at that resolution.
 
FWIW, it looks ok to me too.
 
Looks fine to me.

I have now had two attempts at shooting BIF

Never has the phrase "not as easy as it looks" been more appropriate

I got a couple of decent ones (not great) out of about 70 shots
 
Looks better on your Flickr page but def' in focus.
Remember sunlight and bright sky will just wash out detail whatever you do
 
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Thanks to all for your comments, whilst I may appear to be an ar$e it was not my intent! It looks soft to me, not pin sharp:(

....and I already have an opticians appointment on Thursday!!
 
nc_killie said:
Thanks to all for your comments, whilst I may appear to be an ar$e it was not my intent! It looks soft to me, not pin sharp:(

....and I already have an opticians appointment on Thursday!!
Click to expand...

Sharpness is not everything. The photo was sharp enough that you have most people in the thread appreciating the photograph.
 
nc_killie said:
Thanks to all for your comments, whilst I may appear to be an ar$e it was not my intent! It looks soft to me, not pin sharp:(

....and I already have an opticians appointment on Thursday!!
Click to expand...
It may be a little soft but it looks to be in focus to me. Forgive me, but was it a slowish zoom lens at the extreme telephoto end? Is this a crop of the original frame, and was it a hazy day?
 
ChrisJ_SLH said:
On a 27" 4K calibrated monitor it looks fine.

Funny you mentioned about going to the opticians. At 47 I've just got a pair of reading glasses (+1). The difference looking at my phone, monitor etc is stark. You don't notice the gradual decline... :(
Click to expand...

Think I was 48 when my mother and wife eventually got me go.

It was game changing. I hadn't realised how much avoidance of reading books etc had crept up on me.

Must have read book after book for the next few years after getting my glasses.
 
What program have you used to convert the image here?

For example, I do my RAW conversion with DPP4, and dependant upon the picture style, it automatically gives different sharpness defaults. It also shows you the active AF point if you ask it to.

I use a picture style that has the base sharpening set to zero, but the people in the know recommend '3'. It makes a big difference when just doing a straight conversion and my initial result with no processing at all would look similar to this. Its nothing to do with output sharpening, just counter acting the AA filter. I always have to add the '3' manually (albeit I could set my own base settings if I could be bothered!)

Mike
 
Black headed gull isn't it? They just have that "wet suit" texture about them that make them look soft ;)
 
nickEnackEnoo said:
Black headed gull isn't it? They just have that "wet suit" texture about them that make them look soft ;)
Click to expand...

Fuzzdog said:
There is that - even focused bang on with the sharpest lens, they tend to look a smidge soft.
Click to expand...

Ah yes, the old problem of how to take tack sharp photographs of soft things with a long focal length at a distance where the optical qualities of the air itself, the "seeing" as astronomers call it, can often be a bit hazy and subject to thermal distortions. That's rather like the problem of taking outdoor portraits on a dim overcast day which look like they were taken on a sunny day. It is possible, but it takes quite a bit of expert fakery.
 
looks great mate, pin sharp isn't everything, I often think the soft look is better. Especially in this case.
 
The bird is in focus. It's just that it does not pop because of the grey clouds. The same shot taken against a blue sky would be a cracker.
 
Graham W said:
It may be a little soft but it looks to be in focus to me. Forgive me, but was it a slowish zoom lens at the extreme telephoto end? Is this a crop of the original frame, and was it a hazy day?
Click to expand...

Canon 100-400mkii, usually get sharper. This is the image, just converted from RAW to JPEG and resized,no other editing

pooley said:
What program have you used to convert the image here?

For example, I do my RAW conversion with DPP4, and dependant upon the picture style, it automatically gives different sharpness defaults. It also shows you the active AF point if you ask it to.

I use a picture style that has the base sharpening set to zero, but the people in the know recommend '3'. It makes a big difference when just doing a straight conversion and my initial result with no processing at all would look similar to this. Its nothing to do with output sharpening, just counter acting the AA filter. I always have to add the '3' manually (albeit I could set my own base settings if I could be bothered!)

Mike
Click to expand...
Thanks Mike - This was not edited, except as stated above. I usewd Fastone for teh download and conversion / resizing. I looked at it in DPP and teh focus point was just behiond the head where the black / white interface is.

jon ryan said:
Have you a/calibrated the lens recently, and b/ sharpened in post? Both can help
Click to expand...
Thank Jon - The lens is not calibrated as I have got 'good' photos before. This has no PP as I wanted to show the issue straight out of camera. Looks like it could be the nut behind the camera!

Chris J said:
looks great mate, pin sharp isn't everything, I often think the soft look is better. Especially in this case.
Click to expand...

Thanks all for the comments / suggestions - Off to opticians tomorrow!
 
nc_killie said:
Canon 100-400mkii, usually get sharper. This is the image, just converted from RAW to JPEG and resized,no other editing




Thank Jon - The lens is not calibrated as I have got 'good' photos before. This has no PP as I wanted to show the issue straight out of camera. Looks like it could be the nut behind the camera!



Thanks all for the comments / suggestions - Off to opticians tomorrow!
Click to expand...

All lenses need occasional calibrating, just as your car needs to be serviced from time to time. A single knock can put it it of kilter enough to notice at pixel level. Also, in the very nature of digital photography, RAW images in particular can seem a touch 'soft'. Sharpening in post is simply one of a number of number of processes in photography. Don't think of editing as some form of failure. The people who claim never to edit their shots are usually people who don't understand how to do it properly!
 
I have new £270 glasses that enable me to see a car from pretty far away now, this looks pretty well in focus to me, as noted above it is soft, but helps the image. a small bit of post work could sharpen it but not always necessary.

It could also be that we are our own worst critics and you strive for perfection in your work...silly human flaws and what not.
 
Your shutter speed is very high resulting in using a higher ISO, drop the shutter speed down to between 1/1000th and 1/2000th, that should allow you to use a much lower ISO, also try shooting either shutter priority or manual.
 
Your shooting a mainly white bird ,against a greyish sky with lots of shadow (noise inducing) area in the pic ,the size of the bird in the frame also suggests it's at quiet a long range .so you will have a element of athmospherics (haze) in there as well. Put it all together and no one no matter how skilled would get anything better out of it
 
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