2nd try at Eagle shots!

[dphillips81]

Here is my second attempt at capturing some eagle shots. i had a nice bright day so my cheepie quantaray 70-300 had some light to work with. here is one of the better ones from that day. as always please comment and offer any tips as i am new and always looking to get better.

the image is cropped down slightly.

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o247/dphillips81/Juve-eagle.jpg

Camera Model
Canon EOS 20D
Shooting Date/Time
12/25/2006 1:17:09 PM
Shooting Mode
Aperture-Priority AE
Tv( Shutter Speed )
1/320
Av( Aperture Value )
13.0
Metering Mode
Partial Metering
Exposure Compensation
0
ISO Speed
200
Lens
70.0 - 300.0 mm
Focal Length
300.0 mm
Image Size
3504x2336
Image Quality
RAW
Flash
Off
White Balance Mode
Auto
AF Mode
One-Shot AF

thanks for looking,
dustin

[morehtml]

Congrats on the eagle! Looks like you had to adjust exposure significantly during post processing which really brought out noise or you posted a version at a bad jpg setting. You should have probaly been using +1 or more EC for this one against the sky.

[dphillips81]

thanks morehtml,
yeah i didn't have to push it that much in post, i think the jpg is just bad. but i will try using EC +1 next time, thanks for the tip,
dustin

[mrclark321]

A good example of you get what you pay for. quantaray is the bottom end.
You had a gread oppertunity and it's ruined by bad glass. Even try looking at the Canon 100-300 for better results at a reasonable price.

Dan

[dphillips81]

A good example of you get what you pay for. quantaray is the bottom end.
You had a gread oppertunity and it's ruined by bad glass. Even try looking at the Canon 100-300 for better results at a reasonable price.

Dan


yeah, tell me about it, i wish that i would have waited and gotten the canon, oh well, i guess i will have to try and sell this quantaray and get a better lens,
thanks again,
dustin

[abigailandsam]

Dude, you need some good glass. The poor eagle looks like it was shot through a coke bottle lens. You're in AK and probably have some fantastic photo opportunities, and I'd like to see what you can do with a decent lens.

[Canuck]

He's in Seward and should be having a field day with those Eagles! This is weather permitting of course. Alaska can be very unpredictable.

This is the point I tried to make about not so hot glass a long time ago, like Jul, 2004 where I pitted the 24-70 F2.8L against a Sigma 28-80 F3.5-5.6 where there is no accounting for awesome glass, proven once again. NB: a little serious, a little sarcastic. :confused: I understand pro glass costs $$$ bigtime, but it is worth it, IMHO. There is one I took in Eagle River, Alaska floating around somewhere on this forum.

[Miner]

Try lowering your Aperture down to 5.6 or as low as you can go. You would get some more shutter speed. That might help some. 300mm at 320 shutter speed you would have to be real steady.

[dphillips81]

thanks everyone for the post,

yes i know that it is crappy glass, but it is the best i could afford at the time, maybe in a few months i can get a better lens. my buddy lets me borrow his 100-400L IS and the is awesome, but he just got back in to town, so i will have to get out and get some shots with that.

As for the aperture value i didn't even notice that i was at f 13, dooohhhh:mad: :oops: , i need to learn to calm down and check me settings, arrrhhgggg, live and learn i guess.

thanks every one for the tips, and ideas,
i need better glass, anyone willing to donate, lol :lol: :lol:

dustin

[canonloader]

99% of whats wrong with this image is the slow shutter speed. It's not out of focus, the lens was shaking around like a conductor in a violin factory. Get out of Tv mode and use Av. Turn down the F/stop so the speed shows 1/1500 or higher and pop off a couple shots and you'll see a huge improvement.

[dphillips81]

thank you canon,

i realize that the shutter speed was extremely slow for what i was doing, i just get excited and turn in to an idiot, i have missed a few shots becuase of this:o :o . i need to just calm down and focus on what i am doing, but for this shot i was stopped on the side of the highway, shooting out my window, but i guess it has helped me learn to calm down and focus to get the results i desire.

One quick questoion,
i am using a 20d, how high of an ISO have you used and still gotten images that would make a good 8x10 or 16x20 ? , as far as noise and IQ are concerned. i have seen that most say not to go over 400, but to get a fast shutter speed 1/1500 or above i find i have to go to ISO 800 a lot, as this time of year i don't get much light to work with.

thank you for the comment,
dustin

[canonloader]

I've had 3 EOS cameras, a D30, D60 and the 30D. Still got the old D30 as a backup. all of them are different. The 30D gives very good images at 800, not bad images at 1600. It all depends on the light. If you got full sunlight, 800 might look pretty good.

So whats the lowest f/stop that Ray will go to? 5.6, or so? Using Av mode, when you turn the top wheel, it will adjust the F/stop. Get it down there to get the speed up.

And just remember, your not going to get good shots all the time, the lens can certainly do better than that but your going to need higher speeds to stop that shake.

I carry an old towel in my truck. It's on the seat beside me with the camera on it. When I see a bird, I stop, reach over with both hands, grab the towel in the left, and the camera in the right. As I turn back, I slap the towel over the glass of the window, then plunk the tripod mount of the lens down on the towel and I'm ready to go and killed about 80% of the shakes. :D

[dphillips81]

thanks for the tips, canon, i will work on my technique,
dustin

[black_z]

I have taken some really nice pics with that lens, so that isn't the main problem here. Not saying it isn't cheap, though! :)

[ZipDude66]

My view. Your shutter speed was fine your aperture was fine but way under exposed. What I would do with the cheap lens. Get a tripod and use it all the time, keep the aperture at least f/8 (stay away from wide-open), instead of going all the way to 300mm try 260mm - 280mm, use mirror lockup and fire with a remote switch. Keep posting I would really like to see what you can do with this lens. Save for some good glass!!:) Hope some of this helps.

Zip
Wild66.com

[dphillips81]

My view. Your shutter speed was fine your aperture was fine but way under exposed. What I would do with the cheap lens. Get a tripod and use it all the time, keep the aperture at least f/8 (stay away from wide-open), instead of going all the way to 300mm try 260mm - 280mm, use mirror lockup and fire with a remote switch. Keep posting I would really like to see what you can do with this lens. Save for some good glass!!:) Hope some of this helps.

Zip
Wild66.com

thanks for the tips, i will try that out this next week and post some results, that is if it quits snowing long enough, and gets above 5 degrees outside, its friggin cold!!!! i didnt' think of using mirror lockup, i bet that will help a lot. as for the good glass, it might be a while, AK is a bit costly, but it is worth it for the views and the wildlife, i just hope i can capture some great images before i move back to the lower 48, thanks again for the tips,
dustin