REALLY WORRIED

Briony

Briony

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Nicki.
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Hi All,

I am off to Kenya in 3 weeks and want to take some amazing photos but I am getting really worried now as I have been out practising and all my photos look soft to me.:bang:

I am using a big lens and find it quite heavy but use a bean bag etc.

Has anyone been to Kenya or similar and used a smaller lens and if so what type opf results have you got, I have only got a Tamron 70 - 300 mm mid lens a normal Canon 18 - 55 and a Sigma 120 - 400

Can anyone please give me some constructive advice that will help me as I would hate to go that far and get crap photos,:'( or does anyone want to come with me (fare not paid!!! LOL) and take the photos for me.:shrug:
 
Dont use your zooms at the full stretch of either end. Just pull it back a bit from the end.


Dont use the aperture fully open or shut... about F8 if that will fit in with the DOF you require.

If you are using RAW then sharpening will need to be done when processing. With JPG some sharpening is done in camera depending on how you set it and maybe even another tad in post processing too.

Is your shutter speed fast enough for the subject and to prevent camera shake from your hands? It should be the reciprocal of the focal length roughly. ie, focal length 200mm shutter speed about 1/200"



focusing on animal hair and things with little contrast can fool the autofocus so in this case you could be better off with manual focus.


hope some of this helps
 
Do you think I will be best going on Auto or manual focus?
 
Will my 18 - 55 do it is a Canon but I was going to use that for more like landscapes and close up shots?
 
Briony said:
Will my 18 - 55 do it is a Canon but I was going to use that for more like landscapes and close up shots?
Click to expand...

Well yes, it will 'do'.

However, you were worried about softness and asked how to achieve sharper images.

The advice on not using the extremes of your lenses and keeping to mid-range F-stops was spot on.

But as I mentioned, for supreme sharpness, nothing beats a prime lens and my example would outperform your 18-55mm (when set to 50mm) by some way.

Because it's so fast to start with at F1.8, you could shoot at maybe F2.8 with the lowest ISO setting of your camera.
 
Dont panic Briony, post up some examples here and people will help. But its difficult to tell what the problems are without seeing some shots and knowing the settings you used.

If you look at your shots at 100% with little or no sharpening, they are going to look soft. This is something like the equivalent of looking at a 3'x4' print with your nose right up against it.

Take some practise shots, read up about sharpening, print them at the size you will be printing your holiday and see how they look then.

Unless you are printing massive prints or shooting for stock such as alamy, then try not to worry too much. I'd personaly rather see a shot that was well exposed, well composed and interesting than a dull crap one with biting sharpness.

Its very easy to get caught up in all the technical crap and forget about the whole point of taking photos sometimes.
 
Oh yeah, and if it's safari style shots you are worried about, then the 50mm lens will only really be of use if you are standing on the giraffes toes.
 
Gandhi said:
Oh yeah, and if it's safari style shots you are worried about, then the 50mm lens will only really be of use if you are standing on the giraffes toes.
Click to expand...

LOL :lol: I don't intend to get that close if I can help it.
 
Hi Briony

WE went to Kenya in April/May, I took my 150-500mm sometimes it was too long as we got pretty close to the animals,good job we had a smaller lens on another camera, use a bean bag on the roof of your safari vehicle, when you get in the van try to get the front seats in the back, for a better forward view

also ask the driver to turn the engine off when you stop, a tip Dean gave me :thumbs:

Heres some more from our trip mostly birds, as I didnt put any animal images on the forum yet except for the Dik Dik, are hand held as I lost my bean bag

Clicky Linky

Clicky Linky

Clicky Linky

Dave
 
Gandhi said:
Oh yeah, and if it's safari style shots you are worried about, then the 50mm lens will only really be of use if you are standing on the giraffes toes.
Click to expand...

Well she's taking an 18-55 so I stand by my advice.
 
This isone I took practising yesterday while we were combining.

Morecombining057.jpg


What do you think?

I know it is not straight!!! LOL
 
Briony ..... I don't think you need to worry too much. Ghandi & Janice's advice seems sensible to me (not done a Safari yet) and I should think you will be able to shoot at much higher shutter speeds due to the light so just concentrate on getting the shots ....I think sharpness is over rated too much these days.

Have a good trip :thumbs:

Paul
 
Also remember to enjoy your holiday first and foremost. You don't want to see your entire break through a viewfinder....tis easily done.
 
Ahhh Thanks Paul but I worry about posting on here because it seems that it has to be spot on all the time.:shrug:

I am only beginning though and I intend to have a good trip and post some of the photos on here.
 
Briony your harvester image IS really soft, but it just needs sharpening...

3855792820_6f664a97dd_o.jpg


The good news is there's nothing wrong with your lens or your technique - it's all down to processing. You simply can't reduce a full sized RAW image of several thousand pixels wide down to a rectangle 800 pixels wide on the longest side - all those pixels just don't fit into the new frame! Your software does as good a job as it can, but the image will always look soft after reduction in size, Sharpening at the reduced size isn't optional, it's absolutely essential.

Enjoy your joliday and get the best shots you can, there'll be no shortage of help from people here with getting the best results you can out of the processing. ;)
 
Thanks, this piccy was not touched but I have got Photoshop Elements on here just need the confidence to use it.

Will go and have a play around with it.
 
Briony said:
Thanks, this piccy was not touched but I have got Photoshop Elements on here just need the confidence to use it.

Will go and have a play around with it.
Click to expand...

Way to go! Just keep an eye on halos appearing from over-sharpening or the image taking on a 'gritty' appearance which is another sign of over sharpening. You can always go up to 'Edit' and undo the last sharpening step if you overdo it.
 
Hi Briony,
I haven't done a safari, but we did spend a day in the Kruger, so similar conditions, I expect........

1. Do what Ghandi and Janice have already said....excellent advice!

2. Don't swap lenses unless you have too....it can be a very dusty environment, so try if you can to have two bodies; one with a short lens and one with long. I had my camera with 24-105mm which was great for when the animals were close to the vehicle...and they do come very close at times.....and hubby had his camera with a 100-400mm for the rest. If you really have to change lenses, put the camera and lenses into a big, clean plastic bag and do it in there.

3. Remember this is a holiday....not an assignment for National Geographic....so have fun and put the camera down sometimes and just enjoy the experience!
 
Another potential problem with long lenses in hot climates is refraction - where the heat causes the air to rise in waves and produce a distorted effect - caused by a change in the speed of light -it can cause pics to look OOF. Best time to avoid this would be early morning and later in the evening - when the light will be nicer anyway.
 
I have only one camera body so that should be a bit awkward but have packed bags and pillow cases to change lenses in anyway.

All our game drives ares in the early morning and late afternoon so the light should be better for that and also for the balloon flight very early morning so hope I don't mess up on those (if I have the nerve to get in the balloon in the first place !!!!!)
 
Briony where abouts are you staying we stayed at the Travellers Beach Club Hotel Banburi, balloon flight sounds fab, all our safaris were 4am in the morning start then back to an hotel for breakfast and then another safari in the afternoons, have fun its brill
 
Gandhi said:
Oh yeah, and if it's safari style shots you are worried about, then the 50mm lens will only really be of use if you are standing on the giraffes toes.
Click to expand...

lol was thinking about this with respect to photographing lions in the wild :)

also that long lens...are you using a monopod?
also vibration from the truck will ruin your shots, I think someone mentioned turning off the engine.
do your lenses have IS in them??
 
Just Dave said:
Briony where abouts are you staying we stayed at the Travellers Beach Club Hotel Banburi, balloon flight sounds fab, all our safaris were 4am in the morning start then back to an hotel for breakfast and then another safari in the afternoons, have fun its brill
Click to expand...


We are staying 5 nights these are at Amboselli, Lake Navaisha and the Masai Mara reserves and all these are at in sight of Mt Kilimanjaro, can't wait now.
We are then at the Souther Palms in Mombassa for 6 nights to recover!!!

Our game drives are early morning and again in the evening, all day (whats left of it) at our leisure by the pool or watching over a watering hole.
 
DizMatt said:
lol was thinking about this with respect to photographing lions in the wild :)

also that long lens...are you using a monopod?
also vibration from the truck will ruin your shots, I think someone mentioned turning off the engine.
do your lenses have IS in them??
Click to expand...

No using a bean bag and yes they have IS in them.
 
Sounds great that Briony, we stayed in a hotel called Salt Lick hotel on stilts, over looking Kilimanjaro fabulous setting, next time we go we want to go to the Masai Mara, is that the one in tents that are like palaces inside, think thats the best place to see lions great stuff, we did 6 days safari so we were knackard and had 5 days at travellers, although that was our main hotel but we stayed in a few others on safaris, so decided to go back for the masai

Have a great time look forward to seeing your images :thumbs:
 
budfox said:
focusing on animal hair and things with little contrast can fool the autofocus so in this case you could be better off with manual focus.
Click to expand...

Is that just a problem close up, or will it cause issues at longer distances as well (just thinking that at longer distances, DOF will be larger and hence a bit more forgiving?)
 
There's some good advice on here Briony. Definately don't get home and then realise that you saw your whole holiday through the viewfinder. There was a really good thread on here not so long ago about someone who had gone on honeymoon and instead of taking loads of pics was really disciplined and only took a limited number in comparison to normal. He felt this was a really useful and worthwhile approach as well as improving his shots overall.

Also don't forget that if you take thoudands of shots, you will have to process them all upon your return, which could take loads of time.

Have a good time anyway and enjoy the moment.
 
swag72 said:
Definately don't get home and then realise that you saw your whole holiday through the viewfinder.
Have a good time anyway and enjoy the moment.
Click to expand...

I am going in May and all the advice I have had from friends and forums is as above.
I was worrying too much about the photography side of things and forgot that this is also going to be a holiday and an experience.

Whilst it's not 'true environment' I have been visiting various safari parks and Zoo's to get some practice in of shooting animals from a reasonable distance. Whilst not an ideal place to practice it has helped with getting a feel of how I should be approaching the shots :) Plus its a decent day out :thumbs:
 
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