Bird C&C

Kaytlin · Apr 7, 2012

Hey all, I know I just posted about a couple hours ago with pictures, but I wanted to break them up into two groups instead of posting a billion pictures all at once, as they are much easier to critique this way. I recently went to a wildlife festival to raise money for Pelican Island (as the name suggests its an island home to a bunch of pallicans), they also had a bunch of birds there. This was, in my opinion, an awesome oppertunity to get pictures of birds that I normally wouldnt see or get to shoot. So here are my favorites from the day:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

(this one was from a golf trip where i just drove the cart around while my dad golfed)

cgipson1 · Apr 7, 2012

If you want C&C.. try to post no more than 3 or 4 images... otherwise, most of us will ignore your post..... too many images

Rgollar · Apr 7, 2012

Well I enjoyed them

cgipson1 · Apr 7, 2012

Rgollar said:
Well I enjoyed them

Then why don't you C&C them also?

Kaytlin · Apr 7, 2012

Yes I know, i just couldnt pick my favorites and i tried to show each bird, though I still left out a few...My real favorite is number 1 though.

tirediron · Apr 7, 2012

And off we go to the Wildlife and Nature Gallery (Please note: The Beginner's Forum is no longer the appropriate location for C&C posts).

Rgollar · Apr 7, 2012

Originally Posted by cgipson1

Then why don't you C&C them also?

Because I am such a beginner that I am still learning. The only thing I can say is if I like it or not. What I dont understand is if you have time to be rude then why dont you have time to C&C there pictures? why because they put up 6 pictures and not just a couple. Then how about just picking the first three pictures if thats all you want to C&C.

cgipson1 · Apr 7, 2012

Rgollar said:
Originally Posted by cgipson1

Then why don't you C&C them also?

Click to expand...

Because I am such a beginner that I am still learning. The only thing I can say is if I like it or not. What I dont understand is if you have time to be rude then why dont you have time to C&C there pictures? why because they put up 6 pictures and not just a couple. Then how about just picking the first three pictures if thats all you want to C&C.

I was trying to help her... which you don't seem to understand! Most of us WILL NOT C&C more than 3 or 4 pictures.... we do NOT get paid for this! We get nothing out of it but occasional satisfaction when we see someone improve. I was making a suggestion that will help her get the C&C she asked for... period.

Maybe you think I was rude.. maybe I think you don't have a clue as to why I said what I said!

One of the best ways to learn.. is to C&C.. and read other's C&C, and ask WHY someone said what they did. If you don't participate, you won't get as much out of it. If you are way off base, someone will probably correct you.

Rgollar · Apr 8, 2012

Originally Posted by cgipson1

Maybe you think I was rude.. maybe I think you don't have a clue as to why I said what I said!

I completely understand why you said what you said. I realize your just trying to help by telling the op they put to many pictures up and no one will C&C them. As you said in bold we do not get paid for this. This just reminds me of a bitter person crying about being overworked. I will just keep my comments to myself as I do not have anything helpful to say. Sorry if I offended you but we just do not see eye to eye on this one.

Kaytlin · Apr 8, 2012

tirediron said:
And off we go to the Wildlife and Nature Gallery (Please note: The Beginner's Forum is no longer the appropriate location for C&C posts).

Thanks, it wasnt until after I had posted the thread that I saw the change.

1000_Islander · Apr 8, 2012

The real key to moving up from 'snapshots' of birds (or people for that matter!) is to separate the subject from its busy background. This should be attempted at the time of shooting and it takes practice as well as a lot of moving from shooting positions to another vantage. Some PP editing can help, but one needs to eliminate distracting BGs as much as possible. Another tip would be to shoot in more subdued lighting; harsh lighting is too contrasty, blocking out details.

cgipson1 · Apr 8, 2012

Rgollar said:
Originally Posted by cgipson1

Maybe you think I was rude.. maybe I think you don't have a clue as to why I said what I said!

Click to expand...

I completely understand why you said what you said. I realize your just trying to help by telling the op they put to many pictures up and no one will C&C them. As you said in bold we do not get paid for this. This just reminds me of a bitter person crying about being overworked. I will just keep my comments to myself as I do not have anything helpful to say. Sorry if I offended you but we just do not see eye to eye on this one.

Let me know what you think.. after you have C&C'd a couple thousand images.....

Kaytlin · Apr 8, 2012

1000_Islander said:
The real key to moving up from 'snapshots' of birds (or people for that matter!) is to separate the subject from its busy background. This should be attempted at the time of shooting and it takes practice as well as a lot of moving from shooting positions to another vantage. Some PP editing can help, but one needs to eliminate distracting BGs as much as possible. Another tip would be to shoot in more subdued lighting; harsh lighting is too contrasty, blocking out details.

Thanks! I understand what your saying about the busy background, but I really couldnt change that. The birds were in a fenced in circle, with people surrounding it. We were also outside, so I didnt really have much control over lighting. I couldnt really get close to the birds either, as they were set back about five feet from the edge of the circle, or else I would have been a bit more creative with them.

cgipson1 · Apr 8, 2012

Kaytlin said:
1000_Islander said:

The real key to moving up from 'snapshots' of birds (or people for that matter!) is to separate the subject from its busy background. This should be attempted at the time of shooting and it takes practice as well as a lot of moving from shooting positions to another vantage. Some PP editing can help, but one needs to eliminate distracting BGs as much as possible. Another tip would be to shoot in more subdued lighting; harsh lighting is too contrasty, blocking out details.

Click to expand...

Thanks! I understand what your saying about the busy background, but I really couldnt change that. The birds were in a fenced in circle, with people surrounding it. We were also outside, so I didnt really have much control over lighting. I couldnt really get close to the birds either, as they were set back about five feet from the edge of the circle, or else I would have been a bit more creative with them.

Kaytlin.... one way to control background, and create some separation... is to use your aperture to blur the background out. The larger the aperture, and the closer your are to the subject... the more blur. This may be useful for you... Online Depth of Field Calculator

You shot some of these at F5.6... and others at F16. The ones at F5.6 have less distracting backgrounds (#1) than the F16 (#3) ones do. And you could have probably shot most of these at F4, and still had adequate DOF for the birds. Every little bit helps!

Kaytlin · Apr 8, 2012

Thanks, I will definitely try to remember that next time. I dont think I was using a manual mode, instead it might have been one of the settings...I dont quite remember.