Advice Needed

sturs

sturs

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Stuart
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I have been trying to get some shots of deer at my local forest. I have now found a spot where I have found deer 5 out of 6 times :)
The problem is that the light is really poor as the deer are always well hidden under the dense trees. I have now taken just under 100 photo's and not one of them is any good. I am using a fuji finepix 5800 and tried most of the settings.

What am I doing wrong????? Any advice would be appriciated and I am open to any suggestions. Cheers peeps
 
Could you post a couple of examples? Would give us a clue what is wrong.
 
Here you go.

2008_1102deer2nov080023.jpg

1/52s f/3.5 ISO1600 35mm equiv=399mm No flash

2008_1102deer2nov080024.jpg

1/52s f/3.5 ISO1600 35mm equiv=399mm With flash

This is the best one I managed
2008_1102deer2nov080148.jpg

1/140s f/3.5 ISO1600 35mm equiv=399mm No flash

I one thing I have noticed looking through the pics is that the ISO is always 1600. Could this be the problem??? Sorry if that is a silly question but I am new and trying to learn.
 
ISO 1600 is needed due to the lack of light. The reason some of them are blurred is that even with ISO 1600 the shutter speed is simply not fast enough. I dont think there's much you can do, except to try and go when there is more light.

I reckon that last one is save-able - some PP work would do the trick.
 
Have you got a tripod? If so, you could reduce the ISO, and slow the shutter speed down, and hope for your 'deer' :D life that the deer aren't moving when you take the shot!
 
Shutter speed far too slow. The odl rule of thumb was to have the shutter speed at least the reciprocal of the (35mm-equivalent) focal length if you want to hand-hold without camera shake. Some poeple can do better than that and some worse, depending on their technique and other factors, but it's a useful starting point.

Your 35mm-equivalent focal length is 399mm, which suggests a shutter speed of 1/400th. As you can see you were around 1/50th to 140th, which is far too slow. Basically the only solution is a tripod (or other camera support).
 
3001402286_baf2b12945_o.jpg


Thought i'd have a quick go at getting something back
 
Try the tripod route as flash suggests or even a monopod that way you have some stability and can angle the camera better ... good luck (ask JPS) he has some great deer shots and Im sure he could help you out
 
I agree with previous comments about ISO, shutter speed and using a tripod. But even a tripod won't stop the deer moving so really you need a way to get that shutter speed up. You need better light!

I also note you have some pretty severe purple fringing, other wise known as chromatic aberration. You might want to attempt to find a vantage point where you are not shooting against a bright backlight from the sky. This should also make it easier to manage the contrast in the scene and capture detail throughout the tonal range from shadows to highlights.

Going back to shutter speed and focal length, if you can refine your stalking skills and get closer you should be able to use a bit less zoom. This will (I suspect) allow the aperture to open up a little to let in more light, probably get you to a sharper part of the lens focal length range and just help the IQ along a little.

But really, you need a lot more light and/or a camera with vastly superior noise characteristics at high ISOs.
 
Thanks for all your help, I will go and have another go with the above suggestions. I think I can get some shots from the other side of the trees hopefully were the light may be better. Also I may have to invest in a tripod :)
Thanks again.
 
Someone also told me once that you should get upwind of them as they can smell you if downwind and not play ball. i.e They leg it or get restless.
 
Arthur_Page said:
Someone also told me once that you should get upwind of them as they can smell you if downwind and not play ball. i.e They leg it or get restless.
Click to expand...

What I have to think about the wind as well as the light and also taking a pic :thinking: Damm it looks like I have my work cut out on this one.
 
Try late evening or early morning when the light is coming in from a low angle. The leaves will be off the trees in a week or so as well, that will let more light into the woods.....:thumbs:

Least i`m hoping so...........:)
 
neo2810 said:
Who told you that, a Lion? :D
Click to expand...


That depends on .......

1 Aftershave

2 Curry (night before)

3 Strong deodarant

5 Farting(see 2)

6 Belching whether under breath or a deer mating call (see 2)

7 Hi vis clothing

8 ummmm run out
 
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