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Rookie Roy

Rookie Roy

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I joined the forum and named myself “Rookie Roy” as I’m pretty new to wildlife photography and photography in general. For the last 3 years I have been studying and learning the hard way (taking lots of photos). I have been purchasing Steve’s books, enjoying Steve’s videos and reading the threads in this forum which have been a huge help. I have really enjoyed a lot of the images which are posted. This is my first post and I am sharing some images of Snail Kites I took about a week ago. Other than cropping I do not process my images as I have not yet learned how to use lightroom. I will always appreciate critiques as I am trying to get better.

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Welcome to the forum Roy, I'm glad you made the plunge. Great Snail Kite shots. The first shot is amazing. Very nice. Hope to see you soon. (y) (y)
 
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Welcome, Roy. Nice photos and I especially like the last one as the kite has a fine intense expression and purposeful pose against a non-distracting background whilst also showing environmental setting in the lower half. Keep posting!
I see you have exposure compensation in them all and I wouldn't have thought that would have been necessary/ beneficial as the bird is quite dark. Was it a conscious choice? Just a thought and it would also depend on the type of metering used, and it's not a lot. Interested to hear. In the event the exposures look acceptable.
Lightroom is great fun and I strongly recommend you use it, and you can go on to set noise reduction as a plug in (eg Topaz). Great tuition on You Tube eg Anthony Morganti Guide and many other sources e.g.Liightroom Queen. Steve's guide is meticulous, but you might want a taster via You Tube first. And posting here with software/ processing questions is also very helpful. People are very generous! All the best with your journey.
 
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Thank all of you for your kind words, welcome, and comments! Bruce, I used exposure compensation because I noticed over exposures on the white feathers of the birds on my initial shots (Like Steve suggested I set up my camera to show blinkies). I do struggle with darker birds that have white patches. Is there a better way to expose birds with white features? Thank you for the guidance on a guide to use lightroom. My problem is I still work full time and work this in when I have spare time. The lightroom guides I looked at so far kind of overwelmed me. Steve’s guides appear to be more about organizing the images rather than processing.
 
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Rookie Roy said:
Thank all of you for your kind words, welcome, and comments! Bruce, I used exposure compensation because I noticed over exposures on the white feathers of the birds on my initial shots (Like Steve suggested I set up my camera to show blinkies). I do struggle with darker birds that have white patches. Is there a better way to expose birds with white features? Thank you for the guidance on a guide to use lightroom. My problem is I still work full time and work this in when I have spare time. The lightroom guides I looked at so far kind of overwelmed me. Steve’s guides appear to be more about organizing the images rather than processing.
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Agree, dark birds with white patches are difficult. What I normally do is to underexpose by -0.5 to -1 because is easier brighten the dark areas than bring down the burned whites. When possible use the lowest ISO possible , as that increases the dynamic range of the image. For post I use Darktable, it comes with everything that I need for corrections in the computer.
 
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Rookie Roy said:
Thank all of you for your kind words, welcome, and comments! Bruce, I used exposure compensation because I noticed over exposures on the white feathers of the birds on my initial shots (Like Steve suggested I set up my camera to show blinkies). I do struggle with darker birds that have white patches. Is there a better way to expose birds with white features? Thank you for the guidance on a guide to use lightroom. My problem is I still work full time and work this in when I have spare time. The lightroom guides I looked at so far kind of overwelmed me. Steve’s guides appear to be more about organizing the images rather than processing.
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You sound on the right track with exposure, Roy. Always useful to review histogram, either with aid of live view or afterwards by chimping. Blinkies are very helpful aren’t they. I know what you mean with a busy work life and daunting learning materials. Do try Anthony Morganti in that case - very clear and he has lots of brief videos on You Tube. Grand photos whatever!
 
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Beautiful photos that can only be improved by finishing them off with a little processing.
LR will make a difference to bring out the best in your photos. It is not so daunting - and I will help you anytime if you like.
 
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I agree with Winston. You've done a good job with composition and capturing the moment. Processing in Lightroom (or the program of your choice) will take the shots to the next level.
 
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