Anne Sandler
January 2025 - Untitled
About the Image(s)
Taken on 12/25/24
XT3
shutter: 1/500 second
lens: Tamron 18-300 mm; shot at 300 mm
ISO: 400
Each year on Christmas day my friend and I trek up to Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge about 2 hours from Sacramento. There was a little sun peaking through a cloudy sky, but at least it wasn't fogged in. We went around the circuit twice. We are only allowed to photograph wildlife from our cars. My handicap is a lens with a 300 mm max. But, I usually come home with some good images and it's a fun day.
8 comments posted
Anne,
I like the action portrayed by the two birds in flight. A longer lens might have helped but the main issue is that your shutter speed was too low (slow) for birds in flight; especially these that are not particularly large. Next time set you shutter speed to at least 1/1500 or faster. I don't know which fstop was selected but maybe a larger fstop would have helped blur the structures in the background more. Right now, they are out of focus but not enough. In PS I tried to clone those buildings out (see attached). I also sharpened the image to help remove the motion blur. Posted: 01/07/2025 04:32:34
I like the action portrayed by the two birds in flight. A longer lens might have helped but the main issue is that your shutter speed was too low (slow) for birds in flight; especially these that are not particularly large. Next time set you shutter speed to at least 1/1500 or faster. I don't know which fstop was selected but maybe a larger fstop would have helped blur the structures in the background more. Right now, they are out of focus but not enough. In PS I tried to clone those buildings out (see attached). I also sharpened the image to help remove the motion blur. Posted: 01/07/2025 04:32:34
Thanks Dean! Next year I'll up the shutter speed and use a larger F/stop. The bigger problem is that they looked sharp to me! And I did have my eyes examined recently. So what do I do about that? Posted: 01/07/2025 15:11:36
In LR you can zoom in, maybe 1X. But don't zoom in too much since everything will appear out of focus if you start pixel peeking. Posted: 01/07/2025 15:37:53
Yikes, that was like looking in a magnifying mirror! I guess I'll do that from now on with my images. Thanks Dean!! Posted: 01/07/2025 21:17:22
Diana Edelman
An interesting capture with the open beak on the back bird and the angles of the legs on both. Yes, the background needs more blurring; it looks a little like old Germanic . My eyes tried to read/decipher three words there and distracted me from the birds. Yes, they are not sharp. I know how hard it can be to capture birds in flight from a recent club trip to a bird sanctuary! Posted: 01/11/2025 03:14:11
Thanks Diana, I don't know what you're seeing to read in the background since it's water. My problem is that it almost looks like sky. I do appreciate your comment because that's how I learn. Posted: 01/11/2025 03:20:02
Erin Lamb
Good choice for the timing of the birds' behavior, Anne.
It's not easy capturing birds in flight and I would agree with the suggestions already offered. I, too, am still learning a lot about settings for these kinds of shots and find the suggestions very helpful. Posted: 01/19/2025 16:22:14
It's not easy capturing birds in flight and I would agree with the suggestions already offered. I, too, am still learning a lot about settings for these kinds of shots and find the suggestions very helpful. Posted: 01/19/2025 16:22:14
Thanks for your encouragement Erin. Posted: 01/19/2025 23:12:14