Bird Watching Trip (Beginner) C&C

[shelby16]

I'm posting again! As usual, I shot these on my compact camera (soon to be an SLR user, dont worry). Today I went with a group down to a beautiful beach in my town for some bird watching. These were some of my favorite pictures I took, as a lot of the others were blurry. I had to add brightness to all of them because it was pretty gloomy this AM. I would love some C&C on these bird shots! I've been trying to take in some of the advice I've been giving, so I was very excited to be able to shoot some birds today and practice.

Let me know what you think! Honest answers are appreciated!
My opinions are that #1 is slightly blurry, and I couldn't figure out how to adjust it. #2 seems to be the clearest. #3 seems pretty clear, not sure if I should crop some more, though. And #4 seems a tiny bit blurry, but I had to adjust the saturation as it was too dull.

Shelby



#1


#2


#3


#4


Honestly, I think it's my lens. I believe (and hope) that I will take much better/clearer pictures when I am able to start using my Nikon D5100. I got two lenses, one is the kit 18-55 lens, and another that goes up to 300mm. I'm excited to use these.

 

[HL45]

What compact camera are you using? Are you shooting Auto with it?

 

[shelby16]

What compact camera are you using? Are you shooting Auto with it?

Is it bad to say that I'm honestly not sure? hahaha. It's from Nikon, and it has a 7x zoom lens. http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-S6100-Wide-Angle-Touch-Panel-Black/dp/B004M8SVES I'm shooting in Auto, I think, because my camera wont let me shoot in manual. I'm adjusting the ISO and exposure though. Why?

 

[HL45]

What compact camera are you using? Are you shooting Auto with it?

Is it bad to say that I'm honestly not sure? hahaha. It's from Nikon, and it has a 7x zoom lens. Amazon.com: Nikon COOLPIX S6100 16 MP Digital Camera with 7x NIKKOR Wide-Angle Optical Zoom Lens and 3-Inch Touch-Panel LCD (Black): Camera & Photo I'm shooting in Auto, I think, because my camera wont let me shoot in manual. I'm adjusting the ISO and exposure though. Why?

Just wondering, Some or most compacts have the dial or menu to shoot a range of scenes, I used that allot before moving to a dslr. You might try changing the scene mod and take several shots of the same subject to see the differences in white balance and iso.
just a thought.

 

[shelby16]

See I thought so too, but I haven't been able to find it on this camera! what would your advice be on the shots?

 

[HL45]

See I thought so too, but I haven't been able to find it on this camera! what would your advice be on the shots?

I like the composition of the shots, seems like the exposure isn't right and the white balance also, #1 is the best overall exposure to me but either camera shake or focus got involved.
There is no way to edit blurry! Best practice for clear shots is learning to hold the camera still or use a tripod if possible. I know that compact is small and that's gonna make it hard to hold firm.
Hope you get the 5100 soon!

 

[shelby16]

Thank you so much for the input! That's my issue! I try so hard to hold it still and nothing. Don't have a tripod for my compact, but ordered one with my d5100 hopefully this will help.

 

[rodbender]

Birds in flight = sutter speed
Bird photography make sure the eye is in focus

 

[shelby16]

Birds in flight = sutter speed
Bird photography make sure the eye is in focus

Can't control shutter speed on my comp camera. but will do next week when I get my slr