My Trip to the Beach: Eagles!

PaulWog · May 19, 2015

Wishing I had more than just the 70-300 to capture these.

I think I took about 400 shots, quite a few are nice. This is one of the better ones. I have to do quite a bit of editing now.

[url]Young Bald Eagle Flickr - Photo Sharing

baturn · May 20, 2015

More...more...more!

PaulWog · May 20, 2015

I shot just about every shot at ISO 1000, with a
shutter ranging between 1/1600 and 1/4000, and aperture usually at f8. I wish I brought it down to f7.1 (or a half-stop lower), ISO down to around 500 or a bit lower, and kept the shutter at 1/1600 - 1/2000. I lost a fair bit of detail on a few great shots when I didn't need to!!! Now I'm eyeing up a 150-600 that I cannot afford!

<-- Thought the expression was caption-worthy

Overread · May 20, 2015

ISO 1000 is nothing. Honestly I would say that you've got some fantastic shots here with what you have already - esp considering 300mm is your upper limit. Learn to control noise by proper exposure (read up on expose to the right exposure theory) and also how to manage noise in editing along with how to sharpen. The right use of noise reduction and sharpening will do a lot - and in resizes for hte web or prints much of the noise that is left will be further lost.

Honestly I would say set your ISO to something REALLY high and practice. Learn how to live with high ISO because chances are you will have to use it many times (I know a lot of bird photographers oft shoot at f8 or there abouts because the long focal length and small subjects mean that you're pretty close to full a frame; so you need a smaller aperture for many shots)

As an idea I did this, totally only spent 5 mins in Neat Image; however photoshop CS 5 and Lightroom can do very well (Lightroom is pretty darn good these days and for a once over the whole shot is ideal).
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u275/overmind_2000/17907100492_9196d0f782_o_zpsf2ym5lut.jpg

PaulWog · May 20, 2015

I suppose I could bump up the noise reduction a little bit more. I tried to balance the noise reduction with sharpening. I spent at least 10 minutes with each shot balancing those. I think I left too much noise in order to keep maximum details, but your edit does look better. I will revisit a couple of these images with some altered sharpening & noise reduction.

I don't want to learn to live with high ISO! Oh well.

Thanks for the input. If I get a Sigma 150-600 C, I will take that advice about f8.

I figure if I can fill the frame, f8 is a good amount? And if I am cropping in to 1/9th of the frame, probably f6.3 or f7.1 should be good, allowing for a bit of a lower ISO. Assuming I have time to switch settings around. Does that sound about right?

Overread · May 20, 2015

I would say f7.1 to f8 is a good range - esp on the zoom lenses because at their long end chances are you will want to stop down around one stop or 2/3rds to get back sharpness (since zoom lenses are always weaker at their longest end).

And yes sharpness vs noise reduction is a complex area. You can invest a lot of time in learning the ins and outs and I'd recommend leanring some effective methods. The time you can save and the results you can get are really worth the investment in learning it.

And yes high ISO is something to learn and I'd say learn it sooner rather than later. I got a big shock myself after 4 or so years doing photography when I did some indoor show-jumping - even a modest (for action) 1/640sec had me at ISO 12800, f2.8 and still underexposing by a stop! Big lessons in how to deal with such a high ISO (and on my 7D that's the expanded highest limit and far from its best).

But never avoid it - high ISO can work and many times will get you shots you didn't think were possible; and as you learn how to workk with it more and more you'll find the results are still great when the shot it taken correctly.

BillM · May 20, 2015

The first time you shoot with a 150-600 you will be extremely mad at yourself for not buying it sooner.

And don't be to afraid to shoot them wide open but as already stated f/8 is real nice :icon_thumright:

PaulWog · May 21, 2015

Now I just need a 150-600. Although this was the first time I've gone specifically bird shooting... out of 2 years. It was lots of fun. I overcame the ISO with this silhouette

I thought this one turned out well as a silhouette. Also, added a couple more shots to the flickr stream, but nothing much.

Overread · May 21, 2015

If only you'd gotten the head to show - although you've that one spot of white that looks like an eye staring back - really great one though I'd say and something I've honestly not see many do!

coastalconn · May 21, 2015

I actually think you did pretty well considering what you are working with. Did you shoot in raw? You should try shooting in manual mode with auto ISO. Some of the stationary shots were at 1/1250th which is way higher than needed. and I saw one of the shots at 1/4000th. If you shoot in manual mode, you can control the shutter and the aperture and let the camera decide the ISO based on your metering. I generally use spot and adjust EC as needed. The advantage is you can control your shutter speed with the thumb wheel so you could easily turn your shutter speed down for stationary shots and just spin the wheel when the bird is about to take off.