Chickadee; still learning to use my new 55-250

[Crimzon]

AP-F/9, spd-1/100, ISO-400, Focal length- 250mm

This was only the second day, I was able to use my new lens outdoors. There was supposed to be full sun, but it ended up not being that way. But I have been itching to use my new lens, so I was too stubborn to go home. So I just made due with the lighting conditions i had. There was some sun, but it hid for most of the day unfortunately. This photo was taken with partial sun, and clouds, with the camera fairly low to the ground. I'm still experimenting with settings this one I went with f/9 I heard the "sweet spot" on this lens is f/8 so I'm just playing around with different settings to see different results, kind of a trial and error way of learning the ropes.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2586/4254877339_f6c52f6d67_o.jpg

Any insights, and critiques much welcomed, don't be shy.

[Meanderthal]

Congrats on the lens, and the attractive image. Good that the sun was only partial, there are no harsh shadows. The composition, colors, overall sharpness, bokeh are all fine for me. Try to focus on the eyes. Here you might apply some sharpening, selectively on the head. Keep shooting!

[pickupman92]

It's OOF. I tried running it through USM and Smart sharpen and there's really nothing I could do. I'd keep it small and try to hide the OOF. It's a great composition other than that. I really like it.

[Crimzon]

Thanks for the insight and comments. I already used a high pass filter, then sized for web. I think I took it to it's limits of sharpness already. But I appreciate your efforts.

As for focus, I was manually focusing. I was getting frustrated, shooting through the brush, and not getting it to focus on the subject. So I switched it over. They don't like sitting still for very long, so I might have got a little trigger happy, and took it before focusing properly. I have some ones with better focus and sharpness but hey have sticks, or leaves in front of them :confused: or the background was ugly, or the lighting was off, etc...This is the most pleasing pick of the bunch, pose and background. Despite it's flaws.

[tonydee]

As discussed - still soft, despite a clear halo around the head from sharpening efforts. Sometimes it can be good to apply selective sharpening inside the outlines.

Otherwise, a pleasant capture in all regards. Do keep shooting until something magical happens, where the background enhances rather than passively complements the shot, and hopefully there's a little action or dynamism... an open wing, beak, grub being munched etc.. Just a matter of time.

Good you're thinking about and experimenting with the aperture too... f/9 seems over-small for shooting birds, as you're normally a long way back and not wanting a large DOF. I'd guess that lens opens to f/6.3? but as you say it may be best shut down a bit, f/8 sounds good, but doesn't give you a lot of room to play with. You're on a crop body? If so, 250mm is quite a bit of reach... nice :-).

Cheers,
Tony

[Crimzon]

Thanks again for the insight.

f/9 seems over-small for shooting birds, as you're normally a long way back and not wanting a large DOF. I'd guess that lens opens to f/6.3? but as you say it may be best shut down a bit, f/8 sounds good, but doesn't give you a lot of room to play with. You're on a crop body? If so, 250mm is quite a bit of reach... nice :smile:.

It is a Rebel Xs, so yes, a crop body. It can go to f/5.6 all the way zoomed.

As for DOF I was thinking that with f/9, that I would get the whole bird in focus? Even still the branch at the top, not being much closer is slightly OOF. I was also thinking that a higher aperture, would help with sharpness... no? Please correct me if I'm wrong, I am still learning, and I do want to get better, so any little bit helps. I know that with birding you want to get the background blurred as much as possible but still keeping the bird in focus. Would not a higher number eg; f/10 or so acheive that? or am I still going to get that with a lower number, and a faster shutter?

You think I overdid it with the sharpening filter? should I take more time with it and re-do it?

[tonydee]

It is a Rebel Xs, so yes, a crop body. It can go to f/5.6 all the way zoomed.

That's nice... 400mm at f/5.6 (same as my 70-200 f/2.8 IS with the 2x on). Really serious shooters of small birds need a 600mm+, but they cost more than my car... :-[.

As for DOF I was thinking that with f/9, that I would get the whole bird in focus? Even still the branch at the top, not being much closer is slightly OOF. I was also thinking that a higher aperture, would help with sharpness... no? Please correct me if I'm wrong, I am still learning, and I do want to get better, so any little bit helps. I know that with birding you want to get the background blurred as much as possible but still keeping the bird in focus. Would not a higher number eg; f/10 or so acheive that? or am I still going to get that with a lower number, and a faster shutter?

You should try out the online depth-of-field calculator (http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html)... just put your focal length, aperture, and distance from camera to subject in, and it'll spit out some information on the depth of field. For 250mm on a crop body, f/5.6 at 8 meters provides some 21cm depth... more than enough to encompass all of a small bird as long as you focus accurately. If you're closer to the bird, you'll get less. As you stop down to f/6.3, f/8 or beyond, your aperture gets smaller as those divisors get larger, and your depth of field gets larger. As far as sharpness goes, it will probably be sharpest around f/8, and get less sharp whether you open the aperture towards f/5.6, or close it further towards f/22 or whatever your lens's limit is. For background blur, a larger aperture like f/5.6 increases blur. Remember that the aperture is dividing by the number, so larger numbers mean a smaller hole, and require a slower shutter.

You think I overdid it with the sharpening filter? should I take more time with it and re-do it?

Well, yes and no. The shot needed sharpening desperately - you did ok, but it's obvious you did it: notice how the background around the bird's head has a circle of brighter pixels right beside the darker ones? That's where the sharpening algorithms tried to brighten the background to make the edge "sharper" (higher contrast). But, it's not realistic for that halo to be brighter than the other background behind the bird. When you start getting side-effects like that, you want to back off the sharpening if your image is already sharp enough.

Cheers,
Tony

[Q-Man]

Not a bad shot, but I'd go for a larger aperature (less DOF) and a quicker shutter than 1/100 (equal to your focal length = 1/250). That's why it isn't very sharp. I'd rather have a sharp picture with limited DOF than a blurry one with more DOF. Like already said - focus on the eyes too. Keep trying and you'll find a good balance.

Q

[Crimzon]

Wow, thank you for all the detailed advice, and explanations!


This is practically the same pic (same settings) just the birds head is slightly turned. I took much more time in selecting the bird, and just the 2 main branches.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4037/4257255921_0137bd8250_o.jpg

Better?

[vk2gwk]

Still a bit soft on the head while the tail (like in the other shot) is really sharp. Looks as if the optimum of focus is just behind the birds body (looking at the sharpness of the twigs).

I certainly recommend a DOF calculator (something like I got on my iPhone).

Nice composition - especially in the first one and nice colours and light. I am not so much a bird shooter, but with whatever you shoot: patience and a bit of luck and an lot of shooting to get the perfect one....(once in a while) :)

[dpark]

I really like the composition, but to my eyes, they both look quite oversharpened. They also both (especially the second) look artificially separated from the background. I'm not sure if that's a masking issue or just due to the sharpening.

I definitely think you've got some back-focus, whether or not that's a lens issue (probably not), a user issue (maybe), or just bad luck (maybe). I've got quite a few really blurry shots of birds at 250. I think the 55-250 is a great lens, but has a bit of trouble focusing on the long end due to the relatively slow aperture, especially if the lighting isn't great.

[Crimzon]

I definitely think you've got some back-focus, whether or not that's a lens issue (probably not), a user issue (maybe).
You're being too kind, I'm sure it's a user issue. Was focusing manually..... maybe I need glasses :o. Honestly I havent gone to an optometrist in a while. But the autofocus was pi#%ing me off. Shooting through the brush.

or just bad luck (maybe)
It might have played a small part.

[GMHY]

Also, 1/100 is very slow for bird photography, especially the small ones that move a lot - You may have focused manually correctly, but it's easy to blur the picture at 1/100, either by operator shake or through a bird's move...

[dpark]

You're being too kind, I'm sure it's a user issue. Was focusing manually..... maybe I need glasses :o. Honestly I havent gone to an optometrist in a while. But the autofocus was pi#%ing me off. Shooting through the brush.


It might have played a small part.
Didn't realize you were manually focusing. Can't blame it on the camera/lens, then. :D Luck's generally a factor, though.

Focusing through brush is definitely a pain. Maybe prefocus and then turn on autofocus for the final bit? Kind of a hassle when you actually have to switch the MF/AF button, though.