robin

[mrbass111]

ive been trying to get better at birding photos made some changes in my camera and got this shot in the shade. handheld. comments please.
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s147/mrbass111/hawk/robin2002.jpg

[mrbass111]

hey what a good photo lol

[Cooper911]

I like the robin but its a little soft. Looks like there is some blur from handholding during exposure. I can't check your exif data from work but I would advise the following to improve, get your shutter speed up depending on your focal length...I usually go 1.5 to 2x greater than my focal length. So if your shooting a 300, have your shutter at 1/450 to 1/600 for starters. Once you get the hang of it, you can drop your shutter no less than 1/1. If you can't get the shutter up than increase your ISO until your exposure time reaches those levels. If you have IS, turn it on with stationary subjects. Plus you always have to compensate for the lighting conditions. Finally...give some thought to composition...let your subject look into some space...don't cut him off. There are some great birders here who I am sure will provide you with much better advice. Keep shooting.

[eccles]

Good advice from Cooper. I'd also add that if you can, try to get on a level with the subject rather than point the camera down at it. This goes for lots of things as well as birds. This approach has two advantages: one, you acquire a more friendly approach to your subject, and two, you throw the lackground further away enabling it to be less in focus and less intrusive.
But it's an attractive bird, and you did well to get the catchlight in the eye, which always adds sparkle to a shot.

[mrbass111]

hey i really appreciate the advice. i am new and learning. ive learned alot about using the TV setting on my camera to try to get better results. especially using handheld. and now that i understand the ISO behind that hopfully i can get even better.

[IraRunyan]

Do you have any software for PP. I just sharpened your image and did some color adjustment and it looked much better. (Did not post results since you don't have Editing Image OK set)

If you don't have any software, try Faststone Image Viewer which I use. It's FREE and can be downloaded at http://www.faststone.org/download.htm

[mrbass111]

thanks for the tip ira. its ok to edit post images from me. i just dont know how to change that setting.