First attempt with bird in flight

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Pasiani

Pasiani

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Hi everyone,

For the first time I have a camera capable of following birds in flight. I spent a week on vacation on the shores of Lake Constance, in southern Germany. I took an hour late one afternoon to try to photograph birds in flight for the first time and had a great time. I think I'm already addicted to it.

Your criticism is welcome, thank you in advance.

Wish you all a good weekend.

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I assume you are looking for something more than "nice shot" since you put it in for critique. The only thing that jumps out is a very common issue. Where the light catches the white bird at an angle from the sun to that part of the bird to the lens you get overexposure perhaps to the point that there is no detail left to recover. Blinkies are the prevention if you have time to test it, otherwise exposure compensation to pull it away from climbing the right wall of the histogram. You might see if your raw file gives you something to recover. If you pull the whites slider left if it just gets gray with no detail it is unrecoverable. It is a tiny part of the head so no biggie but it would be better if there was detail in all the bright parts.
 
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bleirer said:
I assume you are looking for something more than "nice shot" since you put it in for critique. The only thing that jumps out is a very common issue. Where the light catches the white bird at an angle from the sun to that part of the bird to the lens you get overexposure perhaps to the point that there is no detail left to recover. Blinkies are the prevention if you have time to test it, otherwise exposure compensation to pull it away from climbing the right wall of the histogram. You might see if your raw file gives you something to recover. If you pull the whites slider left if it just gets gray with no detail it is unrecoverable. It is a tiny part of the head so no biggie but it would be better if there was derail in all the bright parts.
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Thank you very much for your suggestion. I shoot JPEG only, so no RAW for this one. I may shoot RAW one day, but first I would have to buy a new laptop (mine is 13 years old), buy a post-processing software and learn how to use it. As I work in front of the computer the whole day, I'm not sure I want to do it now. Anyway, you are right, processing the RAW file would result in a better image.
 
Pasiani said:
Thank you very much for your suggestion. I shoot JPEG only, so no RAW for this one. I may shoot RAW one day, but first I would have to buy a new laptop (mine is 13 years old), buy a post-processing software and learn how to use it. As I work in front of the computer the whole day, I'm not sure I want to do it now. Anyway, you are right, processing the RAW file would result in a better image.
Click to expand...

The raw wouldn't necessarily be a better image, you just have more latitude for errors. For jpeg you have to get it right in camera, so your blinkies and exposure comp are even more useful. Even with jpeg there is still some room for adjustments. And there is free software.
 
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Great choice of camera for beginner birds in flight:-
  • More versatile (24mm-600mm) than more much more expensive mirrorless.
  • Great autofocus - only compact I know with phase-detect autofocus
  • Fast shooting (~20fps)
  • Good introduction to mirrorless-like features
 
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Thank you everyone for your feedback, much appreciated.
I used to shoot online static subjects, so exposure and blown out highlights were never an issue. For moving subjects, I may try manual exposure. The problem that day was the inconsistent light (some thin clouds passing).
I may also try RAW and post-production in the future.
Apart from the blown out highlights, any observation?
Once again, thank you very much.
 
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Pasiani said:
Hi everyone,

For the first time I have a camera capable of following birds in flight. I spent a week on vacation on the shores of Lake Constance, in southern Germany. I took an hour late one afternoon to try to photograph birds in flight for the first time and had a great time. I think I'm already addicted to it.

Your criticism is welcome, thank you in advance.

Wish you all a good weekend.
Click to expand...
Very nice and great for a first BIF outing, crisp and sharp image with a great wing position.

I like the slightly mottled background with a hint of clouds and sky as opposed to solid blue or solid gray cloudy skies, it adds a bit of interest there. In addition to the exposure thoughts you might think about placing flying birds or other animals in motion with more room to enter the frame. In this image that would mean shooting or cropping to place the bird farther to the left with more negative space to the right side of the image so the bird isn't quite so centered and has more room to fly into the image.
 
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Very nice first bif shot. My only suggestion would be to experiment with the settings. Maybe a smaller f/stop, maybe a hair faster s.s. Of course, the light plays a huge part in it all, so you have to keep that in mind as to what settings you choose to get the desired effect. GL, have fun!
 
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