Small birds (Critique please)

If you would like to post, you'll need to register. Note that if you have a BCG store account, you'll need a new, separate account here (we keep the two sites separate for security purposes).

Harry.G

Harry.G

Well-known member
Member's gallery
Hi Guys ..

Up for Critique are a few shots of "Coal Tits" and a Goldfinch taken back in June of this year, please feel free to offer your thoughts, good bad or indifferent...
By this time I was 4 months into photography and was desperately trying to take any sort of shot that resembled something sharp..

I love this particular image below because it reminds me of how close I was coming to nailing a real good shot in decent light.. I had watched a mother bird for a couple of hours trying to entice her Chicks away from the nest when all of a sudden there were wings flapping, squeaking and squawking everywhere and to my surprise the branch was full of chicks all vying for the best seat at the table . I would love to replicate this shot with better lighting

D500 - 1/1000 - F/9 - 140mm - ISO4032 handheld (June 5th 2020)
DSC_9519.jpg
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.


A day later and things were looking up as the light was much better for the shot taken below, my main thought was to try and achieve a good composition
D500 - 1/1600 - f/5.6 - 220mm - ISO 3592 - handheld (June 6th 2020)
DSC_0315.jpg
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.



Good composition was my main aim For the final shot and I sort of realised without really knowing it that these little Goldfinches tended to sit a bit longer and not dash about as much as the Coal Tits, so something in the back of my head said "Lower the shutter speed" and in turn the ISO dropped (I hadn`t honestly realised that doing so would result in a much cleaner image)

D500 - 1/250 - f/7.1 - 270mm - ISO 500 - tripod mounted
DSC_1314.jpg
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.


Thanks for looking


Harry.G
 
Member's gallery
Love the first shot's content and don't think the light is all that bad. Perhaps you could tone down the whites. Like the second shot's light and detail. I might crop it a little
differently so that there's not quite so much "dead" space each side of the bird, but not center the bird in the process. The third shot looks nice to me, but again, I'd crop some
off behind the bird and if possible give the bird a little more space in front, thus decentering the bird. Over all, took me a long time to get those kinds of shots, so congrats. :)
 
Member's gallery
I second the post from Icarus above.

Great subject matter and action in the top shot but the light is pretty harsh. Pulling down the highlights may help.

I'd try alternative compositions for the second image placing the bird a bit off to one side or the other. Great perch on that shot with all that moss.

I like the third shot the best as presented.

Regardless nice work and great subjects!
 
Member's gallery
Like them all, but my favorite is the last one. I like the subject best and I think its the best exposure out of the three.
 
Member's gallery
Icarus said:
Love the first shot's content and don't think the light is all that bad. Perhaps you could tone down the whites. Like the second shot's light and detail. I might crop it a little
differently so that there's not quite so much "dead" space each side of the bird, but not center the bird in the process. The third shot looks nice to me, but again, I'd crop some
off behind the bird and if possible give the bird a little more space in front, thus decentering the bird. Over all, took me a long time to get those kinds of shots, so congrats. :)
Click to expand...

Thank you for your comments Icarus
 
Member's gallery
DRwyoming said:
I second the post from Icarus above.

Great subject matter and action in the top shot but the light is pretty harsh. Pulling down the highlights may help.

I'd try alternative compositions for the second image placing the bird a bit off to one side or the other. Great perch on that shot with all that moss.

I like the third shot the best as presented.

Regardless nice work and great subjects!
Click to expand...

Appreciate your thoughts , Thank you
 
Member's gallery
Harry.G said:
Hi Guys ..

Up for Critique are a few shots of "Coal Tits" and a Goldfinch taken back in June of this year, please feel free to offer your thoughts, good bad or indifferent...
By this time I was 4 months into photography and was desperately trying to take any sort of shot that resembled something sharp..

I love this particular image below because it reminds me of how close I was coming to nailing a real good shot in decent light.. I had watched a mother bird for a couple of hours trying to entice her Chicks away from the nest when all of a sudden there were wings flapping, squeaking and squawking everywhere and to my surprise the branch was full of chicks all vying for the best seat at the table . I would love to replicate this shot with better lighting

D500 - 1/1000 - F/9 - 140mm - ISO4032 handheld (June 5th 2020)
View attachment 11466

A day later and things were looking up as the light was much better for the shot taken below, my main thought was to try and achieve a good composition
D500 - 1/1600 - f/5.6 - 220mm - ISO 3592 - handheld (June 6th 2020)
View attachment 11467


Good composition was my main aim For the final shot and I sort of realised without really knowing it that these little Goldfinches tended to sit a bit longer and not dash about as much as the Coal Tits, so something in the back of my head said "Lower the shutter speed" and in turn the ISO dropped (I hadn`t honestly realised that doing so would result in a much cleaner image)

D500 - 1/250 - f/7.1 - 270mm - ISO 500 - tripod mounted
View attachment 11468

Thanks for looking


Harry.G
Click to expand...
The first image is a great behavior capture. Is fantastic but the light is not your friend. The other two images are very well done and I like them as well.

Daniel Zdonczyk
Photo-sapiens.net
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top