Galana's fourth effort. "Never mind the quality feel the width".

[kittykat23uk]

If the bird were moving you may have been able to pass it off as a panning shot... 

[Galana]

On 5/6/2020 at 11:46 AM, kittykat23uk said:

a panning shot... 

Instead of a panned shot! I had cleaned the damned lens too.

[Galana]

Like our Portugese friend @pedro maia I felt an early start was necessary as it is Bank Holiday tomorrow and my usual patch will be disturbed.

 

On site, corona compliant, by 07.55 although the cloud cover had come in and light was poor and patchy.

But I was there and I got a nice surprise. A lifer for that patch. 60 species in about a quarter of an acre.

Foreigners can call it 4500 sq metres give or take..

More on that later.

Well the usual suspects were well represented, Blackbird, Whitethroat, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch Dunnock, Willow Warbler, Wrens. Even a pair of Greylags flew by as did a Cuckoo but too fast for me.

 

First up was a regular that finally posed and sang.

358. 58IOM. Song Thrush. Ballakesh. Pay attention to the branches.

 

Then the big surprise. Seen at first at a distance, which I won't bore you with but just as it was time to go he/she move to a certain branch.

It refused to go any higher into the clear bit but beggars should never be choosers. This was a 'first' for Ballakesh.

359. 59IOM.  Spotted Flycatcher.

It even shared with a Whitethroat.

Popular twig that.

 

Last for today is

360/ 60IOM. Raven.

 

So now for that twig.

It is a dead branch twig that sticks out of the underlying Briars and Gorse by about two metres or so. I sit by it quite often as it seems every bird in the area will drop in from time to time. My dear missus calls it "The Gorbals" after the famous crowded tenement block in Glasgow. (Well, famous if you are from North Britain. Probably not even known from Portugal to Slovenja.)

Be that as it may it is very handy for me in my pursuit of birds. Look at todays' haul' in the space of two hours.

Now if I could only get the camera to focus I would be more than happy.

I may apply for a Tree Preservation Order.

 

 

[xelas]

27 minutes ago, Galana said:

Now if I could only get the camera to focus I would be more than happy.

 

Try focusing on the twig, and move AF to manual. With f/8 you must get enough of depth to have both the branches and the birds in focus. Using a tripod will help you.

[TonyQ]

A great collection on one twig! Whitethroat and Flycatcher together is pretty amazing.

[Galana]

7 hours ago, xelas said:

Try focusing on the twig, and move AF to manual.

Thanks. That is what I do. Both the twig and the bird just appear 'soft'.  Sadly I think I may be just expecting too much at times.

It CAN do it but just not consistently.

It has become more noticeable of late and that is a worry.

[Kitsafari]

that twig is critical to birdlife - you'll have to fight to preserve it @Galana!

 

Lovely collections and I'm so impressed you partake in dangerous activities (climbing a cliff!) for birds!

[kittykat23uk]

Try not to use the full extent of the zoom and get closer to your subject if you can. If you are using the extended digital zoom, try and avoid it or turn it off. Make sure you use a fast shutter speed. 

[PeterHG]

An impressive twig collection. I would not get that in my garden for a whole year...;)

[xelas]

10 hours ago, Galana said:

Both the twig and the bird just appear 'soft'. 

 

Wrong! The two branches (front and rear) are "soft" = out of focus but the branch under the bird, and the bird itself is as sharp as it gets!! With photos like this, you will have no more candidates for EBC Of The Year Reward .

 

And with just a little magic from the post-processing side, this is what it came to:

 

 

[Soukous]

1 hour ago, xelas said:

 

Wrong! The two branches (front and rear) are "soft" = out of focus but the branch under the bird, and the bird itself is as sharp as it gets!! With photos like this, you will have no more candidates for EBC Of The Year Reward .

 

And with just a little magic from the post-processing side, this is what it came to:

 

 

Trust you to pick the Bulbul to Post Process Alex 

[Galana]

3 hours ago, xelas said:

Wrong! The two branches (front and rear) are "soft" = out of focus but the branch under the bird, and the bird itself is as sharp as it gets!!

Ha ha. I was referring to the Manx photos not the Paradise Fly from 2017 which I was quite happy with until you showed what could be done.

 

I think Jo has it correct. There is just not enough light around for the sensor. ( I cleaned the lens (and filter)  honest!!)

I never ever use Digital zoom.

[xelas]

1 hour ago, Galana said:

There is just not enough light around for the sensor.

 

But still there is (much) more into those images:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Galana]

Hmmm. I think we had better move to direct conversation to explore this further. (Although no new birds to add today so we are not taking up space)

I can see what you did to the Dunnock on my twig. Not so much on Willy Warbler.

So are you saying some sort of post processing would 'cure' the problem of "softness" that I (and I think @pedro maia with his Reed Warbler) am encountering?

Whilst that would be useful I would rather find the cause at source than the cure. If I go out tomorrow I will remove the filter to see if that changes anything.

Today I tried upping the ISO to 800 and changing the metering to central from spot to see if that worked.

Here are three from that busy little twig.

 

NB. @kittykat23uk Jo's suggestion of getting closer won't work here. That Elder twig is surrounded by thick gorse and underlying briars. And the darn birds know it.

 

 

[xelas]

In Wren there is a problem of motion blur. This one can be corrected by steadying your camera, hands and/or increasing shutter speed. Can not be corrected in post processing AFAIK.

 

The Blackbird is good (always look at the eyes). 

 

Sometimes PP works better, sometimes only marginally. Working on RAW files, and on full size files, helps with end result. I am enclosing a quick one for the Blackbird.

 

 

[kittykat23uk]

The other problem is atmospheric distortion, which is why I like to get out as early as possible because once the heat haze gets going its pretty much impossible to get a sharp shot. 

[Peter Connan]

This is probably quite a significant factor on a small-sensored, long-lensed camera like this, and also gets progressively worse with distance.

[Soukous]

2 hours ago, xelas said:

This one can be corrected by steadying your camera, hands

 

I'm sure we all TRY to hold the camera steady Alex. It's just not so easy after a few beers.

[xelas]

3 hours ago, Soukous said:

It's just not so easy after a few beers.

 

And I am telling Zvezda that beer is good to eliminate the handshake 

[Galana]

5 hours ago, kittykat23uk said:

which is why I like to get out as early as possible

And here was me thinking that you just preferred going before the first threads of Dawn lightened the sky.

 

6 hours ago, xelas said:

there is a problem of motion blur.

Story of my life. I am with you. It's often the lack of beer that causes shaking.

 

Anyway whilst I had not had a beer the problem seemed to go away today as I hope the following will show.

I did one of each to show it was not a fluke.

I only wish I could remember what I did! Perhaps that Beer would have been useful after all.

Thanks for all the helpful advice from everyone.

Now I suppose I better stick to Big Year or I will have to give my Beer to @Game Warden.

 

[Tdgraves]

@Galana today’s photos in full sun are legions better, which makes me think that perhaps your normal shutter speed is too slow for cloudy/overcast conditions.

[Galana]

I know what you are saying but surely if the shutter speed/fstop are constant the action should still be frozen/sharp rain or shine? Or is that too simplistic?

What I mean is that though the image may be duller/flat it should still be OK as the same amount of light is coming through?

[Peter Connan]

I agree that shutter speed should be the same rain or shine, but most people control their aperture and ISO, thus the shutter speed depends on the amount of light available.

 

With most cameras, you sort-of have to do that (at least at the sort of shutter speeds we are looking for, and with the type of lenses we are using) because going to shutter priority will result in under-exposed photos sooner rather than later.

 

So that begs a question about what mode you are shooting in...

[Galana]

2 hours ago, Peter Connan said:

I agree that shutter speed should be the same rain or shine, but most people control their aperture and ISO, thus the shutter speed depends on the amount of light available.

That makes sense. Thanks @Peter Connan

 

I mostly, and for this exercise, always shoot on "P" which gives me a few options. I never use "Auto" as this messes with ISO at settings I do not care for.

 

What I really need but is hard to come by are several exposures under controlled conditions in order to judge why what happens happens. e.g. I would love to repeat what I did yesterday to get the decent pictures when the sun is not so bright. but wildlife being what it is one can put money on the bloody birds not cooperating! I could do with the 'flat' lighting again to see if I can replicate the good results when the sun shone.

In the following shots I show the settings.

1/200 f6.5 ISO 200

 

1/320  with the same f6.5 and ISO200.

Surely the slightly faster shutter speed would not make this much difference?

 

Similarly.

1/1250  f 5.6  ISO800

Compare with:-

1/500 f6.3  ISO 200.

The higher ISO in the first gave me a twice as fast shutter speed 1/1250 but the difference is marked and surely cannot be down to sunshine.

[xelas]

Wren vs Dunnock: Wren is obviously motion-blurred (handshake), as there is nothing really sharp on that photo which excludes out-of focus. Dunnock is perfect shot, focus is where it should be and there is no motion blurr

 

Blackbird vs Blackbird: also here you have a photo that exhibits motion blurr vs one that does not. Shutter speed in itself can help, but not always. That is why Zvezda is always taking a series of photos of the same bird with same settings. Even between them there is always one that is sharper then others, ceteris paribus.

 

Then there are atmospheric conditions, like haze, heat waves, humidity: the longer the focal distance the worse the end result.

 

BTW, both the Dunnock and the second Blackbird are excellent images!