Edit a picture for me please.

Briony

Briony

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Name
Nicki.
Edit My Images
Yes
Would someone be so kind to edit this for me to show a really god close up shot and to see if I am working the camera o.k.

IMG]http://i587.photobucket.com/albums/ss312/Alocin2009/Garden%20Birds/IMG_0907.jpg[/IMG]


THANK YOU
 
IMG_0907.jpg


You missed the "[" at the start of the line.

I don't think a "close-up" would show you if you were using the camera correctly. All depends on what you want to achieve from your shots. The shot you have taken seems to be exposed ok to be and focus looks fine, though it does seem a little soft, but this could be due to camera shake.

Best way of improvement is to try and get closer to your subject, use a hide, garden shed with the door ajar or even from your window.

Hope that helps

Jonathan
 
Thank you can anyone edit this please to get a close up and also please as much C & C as possible.

Thanks
 
I must be doing something drastically wrong then as this was with a 120 - 400 mm lens from a bedroom window approx 20 yards Heeeeeeeeeelp please!
 
sorry ..c.a.nt seem to get the. pic.ture to ha.ve a look
 
Pathetic Picture is posted underneath of original post, of a bird in the garden!!!!!
 
Sorrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy I was trying to open the link in your original post
 
There is no exif data on the picture, so no one can comment on wheather you are doing things right, from a technical stand point at any rate.

Also because you've (quite rightly) reduced the image size for posting cropping in on the bird renders the image unusable due to pixelation(is that a word).

I'm by no means an expert at this and the above are just my observations, someone with more experiance will be along shortly.

But in the mean time i suggest you post a link to a full size version and try to find a way of making the exif data available.

Also, all what Krazyhorse said is valid.:)
 
http://i587.photobucket.com/albums/ss312/Alocin2009/Garden Birds/IMG_0907.jpg

try this for the link, hope it works

lens used was a Tamron 120 - 400 mm on a Canon 450 D
As I say I am a TOTAL beginner and probably a waste of spacw as far as photography is concerned and will probably have to go to a pint and shoot can't seem to go wrong with one of those.

Am feeling rather fed up as I can't seem to do anything right:'(
 
:thinking: looks to me like you not focusing right, camera shake. Could be that you also need to get closer, use a faster shutter speed and use a tripood would also help to eliminate camera shake
 
it is on auto focus and a bean bag was used surely with this lens I don't need to get closer I was advised that this was o.k. for wild life etc and it was only out of a bedroom window and camera was leaning on a bean bag perhaps I just don't have the knack.
 
What shutter speed do you recommend then for birds
 
What software did you use to get the photo off the camera and what did you do to the photo before you uploaded it?
 
Heres a quick go, the quality is quite low on the original so it's never going to be amazing. Wayne

3532783825_8b197ec944_o.jpg
 
Iused Canon editing software and did nothing to the picture escept resize it.
I have taken another shot of just plant pots and will let you see these I cannot get the focus any better than this
 
the fous looks ok to me. when you resize the orignal picture you are removing detail from the shots, . Try using the crop tool instead of resize. as for if you are doing anything wrong, the bird is a bit small in the image above to see accurately, but looks ok.

what are you trying to achieve???
 
I am trying to get some nice shots of a close up of a bird like the ones pictured in the birds forum.

It seems to mee I have wasted money buying a new lens when I cannot get closer to a bird than with my Tamron 70 - 300 mm lens.

this was taken with a Sigma 120 - 400 mm lens is this wrong?


Call me gullible as was told to buy a better lens so did so and does'nt seem to make that much difference.:shake:
 
Briony said:
it is on auto focus and a bean bag was used surely with this lens I don't need to get closer I was advised that this was o.k. for wild life etc and it was only out of a bedroom window and camera was leaning on a bean bag perhaps I just don't have the knack.
Click to expand...

if you want the bird to fill the frame you'll need to get closer or more focal lengh
 
I have a Sigma 120 - 400mm is this not right then if not what do I need
 
I know it might sound like a daft question but are you sure you're not using the lens at 120mm?
 
That is not a daft question how will I know (I am only a beginner sorry)
 
Briony said:
That is not a daft question how will I know (I am only a beginner sorry)
Click to expand...

When you turn the zoom ring on the lens barrel the image will get bigger or smaller depending which way you turn the ring - the biggest image will be 400mm
 
No deffo on 400mm just checked guess it is not doing the job I wanted it to do :shrug:
 
So the pictures in the bird forum the close ups what are people using lens wise and how far away from their subjects are they?
 
Set the lens to it maximum zoom go into the garden and point the camera at something a similar size to a the bird now walk towards the item when it fills the viewfinder thats how close you will need to be to a bird to fill the frame without cropping. the image below was taken with a 70-300mm but i was only about 2 mtrs away

bird5.jpg
 
Right thicko here LOL so the bigger the object the further away I can be right? I don't have very tame birds around here !!!! LOL

Can I not bring them in on zoom with editing or do I loose the sharpness?
 
Aprilselection008.jpg


This was taken with a 70 - 300 mm about 2 ft away LOL (not today it is pouring here!!!)
 
depends what you want to do with the image, if you want to print it big, then no, you will loose too much detail by cropping. if showing on the computer then yes cropping will be ok.

thye lens you have bought does offer more magnification than your 70-300. if you are comparing to people like CT and Ian, then they use 500-600 prime lenses with teleconverters.

if you want closer shots, use some decent branches and create a feeder closer to the house to lure them closer
 
Briony said:
Right thicko here LOL so the bigger the object the further away I can be right? I don't have very tame birds around here !!!! LOL

Can I not bring them in on zoom with editing or do I loose the sharpness?
Click to expand...

if you "zoom with editing" all you are doing is blowing up a section of a bigger image. So - if you zoom in on a 800x600 bit of a 4000x3000 image, you'll get a nice 800x600 image. If you then blow the 800x600 back up to 4000x3000 then each picture cell (or pixel) in the 800x600 will be shown as 5 pixels in the bigger one.

So - heres the full frame (resized to 800 wide for forum)
FullFrame.jpg


and heres a 100% crop of 800 pixels wide
100pcCrop.jpg


Apologies to the Bird 'toggers on here for the crepe picture ;)
 
What people do is put bird feeders in the garden to attract birds and then put some branches close to the feeder for the birds to stand on, when their on the branches take the picture & it looks natural .
 
Have a think about where else you can shoot from, do you have a shed or summer house?, bit of black cloth over the window with a hole for your lens. Some bird togs dress up like commandos and sit in camo hides for days to get some of those shots you see in books, theres a lot of tricks (like the feeders) used to get the birds closer as well.
 
Briony,
My longest lens is a Nikon 70-300mm VR, so I tend to go to places such as the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust at Arundel in Sussex where the birds are fairly used to lots of people being around and allow you to get much closer to take photos. They also have hides where you can go to watch and photograph the birds. At Arundel, for instance, they have a "woodland" hide with feeders set up (and natural branches for the birds to perch on), which attracts Goldfinches, Siskins, Greenfinches, Nuthatches and and Greater Spotted Woodpecker.
This inspired me to set up my own feeding station in my garden and I've sited it so that I can take photos from my window. I know several others on the bird forum (who produce much better shots than I do, do this as well).
It has taken a while, but my feeders have just started to get regular visitors: doves, starlings, blackbirds, a robin or two and, more recently a pair of goldfinches.
I don't know where you are in the country, but there must be somewhere you can go - even if it's just a local pond.
Also try to meet up with like-minded people or join your local camera club. I started attending the regular meets of TP members in my area - they were all quite happy to answer my questions and help me along - and it is also great fun.
Long post I know, but hope it helps. Please don't just give up.......you'll regret it! :):)
 
Briony said:
I must be doing something drastically wrong then as this was with a 120 - 400 mm lens from a bedroom window approx 20 yards Heeeeeeeeeelp please!
Click to expand...

20yards ( 60 odd feet) is a hell of a range at 400mm Briony. The bird must have been quite tiny in the frame before copping?
 
I tend to find that birds are much friendlier in local parks as they are more used to people being about and scattering seed for them. Go to your local park, find a bench where you can hear plenty of birds, with trees close by as the birds feel less vulnerable if they have tree cover to retreat to. Scatter a bit of seed and be patient, let them come to you. The 70-300 would have been plenty in this scenario and the 120-400 should be more than enough. :)
 
Briony said:
I am trying to get some nice shots of a close up of a bird like the ones pictured in the birds forum.

It seems to mee I have wasted money buying a new lens when I cannot get closer to a bird than with my Tamron 70 - 300 mm lens.

this was taken with a Sigma 120 - 400 mm lens is this wrong?


Call me gullible as was told to buy a better lens so did so and does'nt seem to make that much difference.:shake:
Click to expand...
A 400mm lens will make things appear 1/3 larger than a 300mm lens, so the new lens will help a bit, but it won't be like night and day. But certainly, for small birds like this you need to be as close as possible. With great glass, great light and great technique you might be able to get something useable from a distant, small subject, but it won't be easy. Here's an example of one of mine, to show what might be possible with good light and reasonable glass (ignore the technique bit)....

Full image....
20081122_112845_1795_LR-3.jpg


100% crop....
20081122_112845_1795_LR-2.jpg


Now this isn't perfect by any means but it's not awful. This was shot at the 400mm end of my 100-400 zoom and I had my 1.4X teleconverter fitted as well, so this was actually a 560mm lens. The light was good, which gave me some nice contrast and also allowed me to stop down a bit, for better lens IQ, while keeping the shutter speed up a bit and all without pushing the ISO too far. For stability I also used a tripod. I think I used 10X Live View for focus, to get it as perfect as possible.

Of course, if I'd had a prime lens instead of the zoom and got myself a lot closer (not possible in this location) the image would have been better, but this was the best I could manage on this occasion.

A couple more examples (Good light really is your friend)....

Full image. I'm not sure whether I used the 1.4X on this shot. EXIF says 380mm, f/8 but judging from the light, the ISO and the shutter speed I'm thinking 532mm and f/11 with taped pins...
20081112_105459_1335_LR.jpg


100% crop.... (definitely not quite there, but then 100% crops from a 50D are pretty punishing)
20081112_105459_1335_LR-2.jpg



Full image. This was at 560mm, f/8....
20090321_145844_5549_LR.jpg


100% crop....
20090321_145844_5549_LR.jpg



Briony, can you post an original uncropped, unedited full sized version of your image somewhere, so that we can understand what we are looking at and what camera settings were used. It might help unravel the mystery a bit. I don't think there is much that can be done with a 155x166 pixel JPEG file.
 
Most "small" bird shots ie robins, black birds, chaffinches, tits etc will only be taken about 2-3 metres away on a lens around the 300-400mm mark, the lens you have appears to be more than enough, it's just your technique that needs some improvement.

Have a bit of patience, no one just buys a new lens and gets great shots straight away so don't feel disheartened. It took me quite a few months of practice to get used to my 300mm lens, and i try as much as possible to use a tripod or monopod to reduce camera shake.

Jonathan
 
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