Looking for help with my shots

RetroDaz

RetroDaz

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10
Name
Darran
Edit My Images
Yes
I'm a member of various Facebook groups and I find them tremendously unhelpful as they do very little to help you improve your photography. I've been advised to come here for advice so thought I'd give it a try :)

I use a Canon 7D MK II and I have a Canon 600mm USM IS L. I had the opportunity to pick one up at a good price and felt I could grow into it (I've been taking photos for nearly 4 years). I've been struggling to get sharp shots when using the lens for bird in flight shots, so lately I've been focusing on taking images of the birds around my local patch. My biggest concern is that I never feel my shots are sharp enough. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Baby Coots by Darran Jones, on Flickr

Reed Warbler by Darran Jones, on Flickr

Great Crested Grebe On Nest by Darran Jones, on Flickr

I've linked to my flickr images as I'm struggling to upload images :(
Xts8Be
 
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Hi Darran
With the 7D 2 you will need good light to get decent pics.
With the 600mm lens you biggest problem is the amount of depth of field the lens will give you.
As for birds in flight you need good hand eye coordination ( I don't have it )
Having said that you look to be doing OK
 
Sharpness/detail comes from getting close... nothing else will make up for that.
I don't see anything wrong with those images in terms of sharpness/detail. With a 20MP APS sensor, stopping down beyond f/5.6 will not gain you any resolution *unless* the lens itself is not at it's sharpest yet. However, stopping down will gain you more DOF which will place more larger details w/in focus with a potential loss of some finer details.
 
sk66 said:
Sharpness/detail comes from getting close... nothing else will make up for that.
I don't see anything wrong with those images in terms of sharpness/detail. With a 20MP APS sensor, stopping down beyond f/5.6 will not gain you any resolution *unless* the lens itself is not at it's sharpest yet. However, stopping down will gain you more DOF which will place more larger details w/in focus with a potential loss of some finer details.
Click to expand...
I do find it ironic that you still need to get close with these big lenses to get the best shots :)
I've heard conflicting reports that this lens performs better at f7 to f8 so I tend to use those settings if there is enough light. I've been using my tripod a lot more now, which can be a hassle, but is clearly helping with most of my shots.
 
killy said:
Hi Darran
With the 7D 2 you will need good light to get decent pics.
With the 600mm lens you biggest problem is the amount of depth of field the lens will give you.
As for birds in flight you need good hand eye coordination ( I don't have it )
Having said that you look to be doing OK
Click to expand...
I came really close to buying a second hand 5D MKIII at the time, but felt that reach was more important to me (I don't get to go to many places with hides).
You're certainly right about good light. I took the first photo on a lousy day at around 5 in the afternoon because I feared it would be my only chance to see the Great White Egrets at Longham Lakes. The second shot was taken a week later at exactly the same time. A huge difference!
Little And Large by Darran Jones, on Flickr

Great White Egret Flight by Darran Jones, on Flickr
 
mark richards said:
well these look great, don't seem to have any sharp issues there, like Mike said bout depth of field , I never managed many good shots with my 500mm f4 and its a lighter lens than yours, so good luck.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the kind words. And if you hadn't of replied I wouldn't have seen those incredible window and door frames in your Flickr feed!
 
Darran,

As i'm sure you're aware, many things go into a good shot, but on the technical side you need decent light (hence the massive differences in your Egrets), spot on focus (obviously!) then accurate exposure with a big enough shutter speed. Over-cropping will throw away valuable pixels resulting in data that cannot be recovered. Obviously with birds its not always possible to fill the frame at the time of exposure, but if you want high IQ shots then its something you have to work on.

Then it comes down to taste / aesthetics / personal style, which is where it all gets subjective.

For example, your Grebe is a miss for me due to the bird facing away, which over-rides the fact it is technically OK. The Egret in flight on the other hand is excellent - great light, pin sharp, nice background, and a decent wing position that doesn't merge with the head, and the bird is flying at a nice angle to the camera.

You have a better chance of critique on a place like this rather than Facebook etc where everyone thinks all shots are wonderful! Here you might be disappointed with responses at times but it will force you to think and if you are of the right mindset, then improve.

You're obviously not a beginner, so post some more shots up (not always your best, sometimes you'll get more out of it by asking what went wrong). Giving details such as settings and level of cropping etc will help with specifics.

Welcome to TP, hope you show us some more of your work

Mike
 
pooley said:
Darran,

As i'm sure you're aware, many things go into a good shot, but on the technical side you need decent light (hence the massive differences in your Egrets), spot on focus (obviously!) then accurate exposure with a big enough shutter speed. Over-cropping will throw away valuable pixels resulting in data that cannot be recovered. Obviously with birds its not always possible to fill the frame at the time of exposure, but if you want high IQ shots then its something you have to work on.

Then it comes down to taste / aesthetics / personal style, which is where it all gets subjective.

For example, your Grebe is a miss for me due to the bird facing away, which over-rides the fact it is technically OK. The Egret in flight on the other hand is excellent - great light, pin sharp, nice background, and a decent wing position that doesn't merge with the head, and the bird is flying at a nice angle to the camera.

You have a better chance of critique on a place like this rather than Facebook etc where everyone thinks all shots are wonderful! Here you might be disappointed with responses at times but it will force you to think and if you are of the right mindset, then improve.

You're obviously not a beginner, so post some more shots up (not always your best, sometimes you'll get more out of it by asking what went wrong). Giving details such as settings and level of cropping etc will help with specifics.

Welcome to TP, hope you show us some more of your work

Mike
Click to expand...
I've been trying to fill birds as much as I can in shots, but it's not always possible, particularly with many of our small species. I see what you mean with the Grebe, it's not particularly engaging is it?
And yes I'm more than happy to wait for advice. I'm feed up of joining the big Facebook groups and seeing hundreds of likes for out of focus or overly cropped shots because it's yet another kingfisher, little owl or other cute bird. All I want to do is improve my shots and it's frustrating that you can't get useful feedback from there as so many people use them.

The camera details are all on the flickr notes, but I'll add them going forward.
I'd imagine it will be tidier if I keep an asking for advise in this thread rather than starting up new ones for each new selection.
 
RetroDaz said:
The camera details are all on the flickr notes, but I'll add them going forward.
I'd imagine it will be tidier if I keep an asking for advise in this thread rather than starting up new ones for each new selection.
Click to expand...

If the camera details are on flickr, then that should do the trick - save you keep repeating yourself.

Regarding starting threads, there is no hard and fast rule. Personally I think that 1 or 2 shots per thread is enough to critique. Any more and it becomes a bit more difficult. Maybe if its the same species and you're trying out an earlier suggestion, then keep them in the same thread - I'm sure you'll figure out what works for you best

Mike
 
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