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Post by kevinhhood on Jun 4, 2013 20:37:43 GMT -8
I was out walking the Hoy Creek Trail at lunch time and had my camera NOT set on IA (Intelligent Auto). However, in retrospect, setting shutter-speed priority was probably not the best idea. I almost got a couple of really nice shots of a pair of Brown Creepers but they turned out slightly out of focus (see pictures below). My camera (Panasonic Lumix FZ200) settings were: Mode: Shutter Priority Auto Focus: Enabled Exposure: 1/500 Aperture: f2.8 ISO Speed: 1600 In retrospect the exposure was probably too fast and I probably could have benefitted by a larger depth of focus. It was mid-day and sunny but under a pretty solid canopy that let little if any direct sunlight through to the ground (it was still pretty bright though). The Creepers were only about 6 feet away when I saw them. My question to all the camera and bird-photography experts is: How would you have your camera configured either generally when walking around looking for shots or in this particular case with the bird a few feet away? I did not have a lot of time to fiddle with settings but they did put on a nice show for between 5 and 10 seconds before going elsewhere. KevinHHood (Coquitlam)
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Post by Gord on Jun 4, 2013 21:18:08 GMT -8
Kevin, you can get a good idea of exposure if you take a reading off the most abundant lighting conditions you think you'll be shooting in and start from there. If your subject winds up being more in the sun you can guess how many 'stops' you need to close down to get a proper exposure. Likewise, if your subject is in more shadows, you can open up a couple stops to get the exposure. Your light meter will help but you may find you can estimate an exposure on the fly for those quick shots.
Automatic settings can be fooled for both exposure and focus. If you can, use a spot metering rather than a matrix or what ever your camera has. The matrix setting for sure has its uses, but I find for bird photography I dont use it unless Im setting up on a subject that I have time to mess around with. A spot meter will tell you what kind of light you're working with on your subject area. Same for focus. Use the single point focus as otherwise if you use one that has more than one point, branches, grass and other stuff is going to confuse things. I think that is what may have happened in the picture above as the camera focused on the tree and not the creeper that is a few inches further back.
The first picture has a bit of motion blur but otherwise is a good shot. Notice how the metering exposed a bit more for the tree trunk as might have underexposed the creeper a 1/3 or so stop (by my eye and how my computer screen interprets it)
Practice practice. Just fire away and experiment with it. You'll never stop learning (I've done it for years and Im still improving and finding new ways) but at least you didnt have to learn with film like I did when I was growing up. Expensive but maybe in a way beneficial as unless you like spending money on film (I didnt as I am a cheap Scot) you really had to concentrate on good composition and exposure as there was no going back. Photoshop back in the 80's? What the heck is that? ;D
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Post by kenpossum on Jun 4, 2013 22:41:10 GMT -8
I agree with most of the above. For myself, I use matrix metering instead of spot metering, and spot focus instead of matrix focus. All my images are taken in manual. All of the auto settings - aperture priority, shutter priority, program, auto etc can be fooled by the reflective elements in the scene. The first setting I set is ISO. I use ISO 200-320 for good light situations, and 400-640 for poor light. Aperture f5.6-7.1 depending on the size of the bird, and other depth factors. I never shoot less than f/5.6 for anything, even though I have fast lenses that will go to f/1.8. Shutter speed varies. 1/250 for stationery birds, minimum 1/500 for moving birds, and 1/2500 for hummingbirds. I use autofocus most of the time. Others use different settings. These seem to work for me. And ... always a tripod.
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Post by kevinhhood on Jun 7, 2013 18:12:48 GMT -8
Thanks for the tips. I've been out once since and it's hard to remember everything when the window of opportunity is short to take a shot. As you said - practice, practice, practice. A tripod would be great though I prefer to travel light. I do have a new mono-pod that I have yet to try out which might make a big difference.
In the meantime, I'm going to rebrand the two "Bird with tree" pictures above as "Tree with bird" and "Moss with tree and bird". They're looking better already...
KHH
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