I was hiking along a canal and spotted the Heron. The bird seemed to be pretty nervous so I hid behind some brush to get the shot. Taken along the I&M Canal in Will County Illinois.
Any constructive feedback to help me improve is appreciated.
Is this a composite: No
Canon T5i
Sigma 150-600 C @ 252mm
ISO 400
F 6.3
1/320 shutter speed
Manfrotto tripod and ball head.
Hi Brian, I really like the scene here with the bird on the log and green reeds behind. I think the image would be stronger without the diagonal branch but they pose where they will. Colors look good to me . The bird seems a bit soft. I like the stepping pose.
Hello Allen, Thank you for the feed back. I probably should have had my shutter speed higher but I may have been in aperture priority at the time. Lately I have not been happy with some of my photos when taken with the sigma. They seem to be slightly soft on occasion and sometimes I see the focus jump when trying to focus. I check on the internet and found that other people have had the same issues while using back button focus. As long as back button on the camera is pressed the focus will remain but if you stop holding back button and then shoot, the image comes out slightly soft.
Hi Brian, yes I think increasing your ISO here (say to 800 or so) and upping your shutter speed could have helped with sharpness.
I also have the Sigma 150-600 C. I use back button focus in AI Servo mode and keep the focus button continuously pressed while I’m shooting. I haven’t had a problem using this technique.
Hi Brian. I use that lens as well, and I use the same technique Allen uses a good share of the time, but I also sometimes release it to recompose the image and I never had that issue. This looks to me as if the focus is on the reeds. I’m not familiar with the T5i, but the main thing in bird photography, unless it’s birds in flight, is to use a small AF area. I usually use one point or one and the four immediately around it at most. If you’re using one of the larger areas, straight lines like reeds are a magnet for the algorithms they use.
Hello Dennis, good to hear from you. The T5i just has nine focus points and I always use just one and try to get the eye of the subject. Sometimes I will see the focus on my lens jump a bit but I do not know if it is the camera or the lens. I will keep taking notes and see what happens. I retired in August and I am trying to convince my better half to let me upgrade to something like the 90 D that Allen uses. But newer and better won’t compensate if I am doing something wrong. Thank you for your input.
Good job. A very nice setting and pose. The tree trunk over top of bird is a bit tight and next step might leave more head room otherwise I like it as a framing element.
I also use bbf with canon equipment. I find I sometimes get sharper images on stationary subjects by using Spot Focus and releasing the bb when focused. It takes a bit of experimenting to see what works best .
Exposure looks good.
Hi David, I think my type of focus has been causing my issue. I like BBF but I was on servo and not spot. Thank you for your input, I have a lot to learn.
Brian
