Zipline wrote in post #17648747
Looking to get some advice on shooting birds at dusk – or even in just shady and overcast conditions. I recently purchased a brand new Sigma 150-500mm lens for my Canon T3i and have been having fun playing with it, but I’m really having a hard time getting good, sharp shots unless it’s really bright outside. This is an issue because by the time I get home after work (this is when I prefer shooting to unwind a bit) the sun is already blocked so I only have direct sunlight in about ¼ of my yard, not where the birds frequent. Would anyone be willing to share some tips on settings? I’ll try to post some shots from last nights outing when I get home later tonight.
Heya,
Depends on if they're moving or not and how close you can get.
One, you push ISO through the roof. Higher than you are comfortable with, and expose very far to the right, like 1.5 to 2 stops even at your highest ISO from your camera, in RAW. Two, you shoot with flash and you use a better beamer flash extender to get some fill. The problem with that, is, however it only will work on stationary birds, because something in flight will not freeze at 1/200s with flash filling, and HSS is not an option frankly for anything in flight further than a few feet away.
I rarely use flash for birding because I generally just do a tripod+gimbal and high ISO and use stabilization to get my shutter low enough plus high ISO to get enough light in dark situations for stationary birds.
A flying bird, you have no option, you have to get a fast shutter.
For stationary birds, if you're on a stable system like a tripod, you can get a low, low shutter.
Here's some tripod and handheld examples of using higher ISO:
Here's an example of what I'm talking about (stationary bird in very low light, under a tree canopy on my feeder station):
F7.1
ISO 800
1/160s Shutter (tripod allowed a low shutter like this)
Image Stabilization On
Tripod + Gimbal
IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/rqFnEt IMG_3849 by
Martin Wise, on Flickr
I made sure I exposed to the right by about 1.5 stops to make up for the higher ISO usage (this is basically the same sensor as your camera by the way, and I'm comfortable up to ISO 3200 for noise with it).
Another example:
Hand held
F8
ISO 1600
600mm
IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/qsAs73 IMG_2948 by
Martin Wise, on Flickr
I pushed ISO to ensure I could keep my shutter fast, while crawling on the ground. I exposed to the right by about 1 stop in RAW, to recover noise later. I ended up with a very fast shutter, but it was necessary in the lower light. My shutter was 1/1600s. At base ISO 100, my shutter would have been 1/100s and that's too slow handheld for a moving subject even with image stabilization, at 600mm.
Let's now apply this to a fast moving subject, using higher ISO in lower light:
Hand held
F8
ISO 1600
375mm
IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/nR1YiR IMG_4933 by
Martin Wise, on Flickr
I pushed ISO to 1600 and exposed to the right by 1 stop or so, in RAW. This allowed a fast enough shutter speed to freeze most of the motion, but you can see some motion blur even still, at 1/1250s shutter, so I actually needed it faster to completely freeze this.
Lastly, I'll go as far as ISO 3200 if necessary, for a handheld shot. This is the same sensor as your T3i basically. This is in a dark canopy covered area with overcast skies. Quite dark.
Hand held
F8
ISO 3200
600mm
Image Stabilization On
I managed it at 1/320s handheld while laying down on my belly.
IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/oqUcNn IMG_0170 by
Martin Wise, on Flickr
I over exposed by over 1 stop to help with the noise later in RAW.
Bottom line:
Use higher ISO. Even for stationary subjects, and over-expose (ETTR) more than you think you need.
Use a tripod if you can to allow slower shutter speeds on stationary subjects.
Introduce fill flash from a speedlite + better beamer.
Hope that helps!
Very best,
