Backyard Friends

[s_marolf]

Hey everyone, I'm trying to hone my wildlife photo skills. Here's a couple to start with from my backyard. Feedback welcomed.

https://goo.gl/photos/fWfTHUkJfpvHZkom6
https://goo.gl/photos/npG7Ga6HGJFpmMxYA

Another question, better to post links or upload photos? I see some links actually pull the preview so maybe I missed something.

 

[tirediron]

Always better to post images over links, regardless of where they're hosted. Your two image look nice, but both would benefit from having the subject larger in the frame, whether by magnifying or cropping.

 

[s_marolf]

I was already at full magnification of 300mm. I cropped them some. If I go much further with the hawk I start losing resolution. Does this look better?

 

[tirediron]

Definitely for the dragonfly. The hawk is still very small; this is one of those unfortunate situations where your gear just can't really meet the challenge.

 

[s_marolf]

Here's cropped a bit more. Unfortunatly I couldnt get any closer with running through my neighbors backyard.

The lighting wasn't the best so I used the exposure compensation. Its better then the first couple I took that were very dark.

 

[PersistentNomad]

From one bird stalker to another, patience, patience, patience. I feel you with the struggle for being maxed out with focal length and not being able to get closer. I've done some weird stuff to get the shot. I've parked on the side of the road and stood on the roof of my car, I've fallen through a whole in the boardwalk chasing an osprey while looking through viewfinder (my leg still has a righteous scar), and I've perfect the art of moving without looking like I'm moving so that they don't feel threatened. I also wait... a lot. I once waited for over an hour in a nat infested brush area for an osprey to take flight from it's nest just so that I could photograph it doing so. Getting better wildlife shots above all means getting out there more.
That said, there's a lot you can do with just a little but of editing. I posted a re-edit of your original hawk photo below. I don't know what, if any, editing software you use, but I did this in Adobe Lightroom. In general, your photo is a little over-exposed, and it's all kind of the same intensity across the photo. There's not much in the lighting to lead the eye around or to call attention to your focal point, and in general, your focal point should have the best lighting. So, I used a radial filter centered on the hawk to step down the exposure on most of the image, reduce it's clarity by a lot and bring down its saturation levels just a little. This left the hawk as it was in your original photo, but now it has a little more attention on it. The next thing I did was use the local adjustment brush to bump up the clarity and the saturation on the hawk just a titch. this helped to give it some more definition and unwash it out of the blown out sky behind it. What all this did wax knock back the bottom left corner a little, which was screaming in competition with your focal point originally, and call the most attention to the area of the focal point because it's the brightest area and the most in-focus.
What do you think?

 

[s_marolf]

I overexposed it intentionally so he'd show better. Here's the first shot I took with normal exposure. Would it be better to take this and edit or try to get the exposure better in the camera?

I currently don't do much editing. I can definetly see the benefits though ad hrvstands out better in the edited photo.

 

[zombiesniper]

It's always best to try and get the exposure correct in camera.
Set your metering mode to Spot or Centre wighted average. In this case I would use spot metering since the sky is so bright around the subject.

As for getting closer. There's really only three ways. Learn where they like to go and get there before and wait, learn to move in without them noticing and become such a frequent visitor that some birds may get used to your presence. No mater what slow smooth motions will be noticed much less.
I tend to remain in full view for most situations but at a pretty good distance and move in painfully slow but even still I do have times where full camo and sniper veil is the only way.

 

[Didereaux]

I disagree about the need for more cropping especially with the dragon fly. Somewhat more with the hawk, but not so much. I like the compositions. There are a gazillion 'portraits of these creatures done with len's and cameras that cost as much as a house and they get you pictures where you can count the scales on a butterfly's wings...how many do you need to count. Do as you are doing, get the critter in the environment, there is your picture, there is your story.

And as someone noted if you have a short lens you simply have to work harder and be more creative in how you approach the shot. You will need to hone your post processing skills, but take your time. Do as you are doing and work at producing better and better pictures straight out of the camera....a thing all to many (including the pros cannot do anymore).

Before I chased the money for a new lens I would get a 1.4x converter for that 300. Over exposing to take out the shadows of your subject is GOOD! whether by EC or other...the noise is in the dark so eliminate that in the camera. The dragonfly shot could easily have reduced the noise by simply dropping the speed to 1/500 from the 1/1000, and the ISO down from 1600 to 800. A good thing to keep in the back of your mind with the other ten jillion things to remember when shooting critters!

 

[PersistentNomad]

Yeah, it's always better to try and get it the way you want in camera, because the less you have to push your pixels in post, the better your final image quality will be. I'm always on spot meter and spot focus.
My point about over exposure was that in your image you want to have the focal point be what shines, so maybe editing the original by brightening the hawk a little more that the rest of the image will draw more attention to the focal point.

 

[jcdeboever]

Nice set. I kind of agree with @Didereaux. He kept pushing me on occasion to get it right in camera. It doesn't always work out but it has helped me get better pics. Not necessarily an increase in keepers. The keeper rate goes up almost everyday. I hate to edit so this hits home with me. You have a good eye, keep shooting and posting.

 

[s_marolf]

I disagree about the need for more cropping especially with the dragon fly.

The original dragonfly pic was below. I edited it so the link is the new one. I'm guessing this is why posting images is better than links.

I do agree that I want the image in the camera as good ad I can. I'm not big on editing but I do see how even basic editing can make a large difference.

 

[s_marolf]

Set your metering mode to Spot or Centre wighted average. In this case I would use spot metering since the sky is so bright around the subject.

I'll try this next time. I just looked and the camera was on matrix metering. One more setting I'll keep my eye on ;-)

 

[coastalconn]

From one bird stalker to another, patience, patience, patience. I feel you with the struggle for being maxed out with focal length and not being able to get closer. I've done some weird stuff to get the shot. I've parked on the side of the road and stood on the roof of my car, I've fallen through a whole in the boardwalk chasing an osprey while looking through viewfinder (my leg still has a righteous scar), and I've perfect the art of moving without looking like I'm moving so that they don't feel threatened. I also wait... a lot. I once waited for over an hour in a nat infested brush area for an osprey to take flight from it's nest just so that I could photograph it doing so. Getting better wildlife shots above all means getting out there more.

Hmm.. I like your style.. If you ever get down towards me and want to shoot some raptors.....