Bad hair day...

[Dragonfli Spirit]

I don't know what I can do to fix these photos. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. :)

Thanks,

Donna

1. The bad hair day...
Tv 1/30; Av 22.0; ISO Speed 100; Lens 70.0 - 300.0 mm - Focal Length 300.0 mm.

http://members.westnet.com.au/theloudons/Webphotos/Bird1.jpg


2. I'm not going to co-operate - You let everyone see I was having a bad hair day!!
Tv 1/30; Av 11.0; ISO Speed 100; Lens 70.0 - 300.0 mm - Focal Length 130.0 mm.

http://members.westnet.com.au/theloudons/Webphotos/Bird2.jpg

[calicokat]

Nice shots, funny captions :)

[Gary Fairhead]

I like the first shot but it is a little bright on the left and a litttle dark on the right. But you know that.....

Very tough lighting conditions you were shooting under. I see you are shooting at 1/30 sec at F 22 in the first shot in aperture priority ( Av). Thats way too slow and you dont need the depth of field of f22 for shots like this ( these settings are more for landscape shots on a tripod). The lighting looks very harsh to start with so thats a problem but the good thing is the hawk is a fairly dark color. Having the light on the front of the bird could have produced a very different story although as mentionned the light does appear to be harsh ( noon to afternoon?) Some photographers will simply not shoot under these conditions.

I mentionned your settings here and these are your options for the SAME exposure and Same ISO

F16 1/60 sec
F11 1/120 sec
F8 1/250 sec
F 5.6 1/500 sec

Under these same conditions I would likely go to Tv ( shutter priority) and pick 1/500 sec at F5.6 ( should still be enough depth of field for the depth of the bird). Picking F 5.6 in the Av mode is another option and would automatically give 1/500 sec ( under these same conditions). To darken the shot ..use partial metering on the xt which will put a lot of emphasis on the center of the shot for exposure. I would then under expose by pressing the exposure compensation button on the top right of the camera and reduce in 1/3 increments but you could probably reduce by 1 full f stop on this shot to start... with the option of going to - 2 f stops .

The next issue would like ly be that if the left side of the bird is properly exposed then the right side will be dark because there is such a difference in light. Fill Flash can sometimes help with these types of shots and again the flash can be set up in increments to just throw enough light to brighten the shadows on the right side of the bird.

There are many other methods to under or over expose...manual exposure is one way to go for some where the photographer has 100 percent control over the amount of light getting through the lens. Shooting in RAW also helps in post processing if.. lets say ..you underexposed a litlle too much...the details in the shadows can still be pulled from RAW images.

The camera has 3 elements that control exposure and they are all inter related ...ISO, Shutter Speed and Aperture ( I think of a triangle with ISO at the top) . How the camera meters ( average, spot, center weighted, partial,,,) also controls what part of the image is the predominant subject for calculating exposure.

I hope this helps and if I have made an error in my calculations or advice, I am confident that another more knowledgeable member will correct me.....and Iwelcome that because the learning curve never ends for me :D

[Mitcon]

Fantastic looking Whistling kite Donna, lovely raptor.

As for tips Gary has given some excellent advice. No need to stop the lens down anywhere near that much and most certainly a faster shutter. @ 300 mm I'd try to keep the shutter above 1/250. Don't be shy to up/increase the ISO to allow you the shutter speed and aperture you need. I often shoot with 400-800 and even 1600 on the 350D/XT.

And what Gary has said about metering is great also, I use partial almost always, sometimes centre weighted but never eval. I can't really add anything lol, you did it all Gary ;) .

[Dragonfli Spirit]

Errr... right :) LOL I'll print that off, head down to the park and have another go next week sometime ;)
Thank you so much for your advice, Gary and Mitcon. I'll be sure to post my 'new' pics when I've done them and make you proud. :D

Thank you too calicokat - I liked them too ;)

Donna

[superdiver]

I would try and boost the speed a little to make them a little sharper...