Coolart Wetlands

[Grumpy John]

I took the new 7D Mark II over to the Coolart Wetlands today in the hope of getting some semi-decent bird shots. It was a pretty disappointing outing all round, the wetlands have just about dried up so there is definite lack of birds. Secondly I am pretty disappointed with the results I came away with.
I will put three images without any details just yet, they have had varying amounts of PP and cropping. I will wait for some comments before I share the settings and PP used.

#1


#2 A Welcome Swallow had decided to build a nest in one of the hides.


#3

[Toddyh]

I'm looking at these on my phone so #1 is difficult to judge because it's quite small.
#2 just looks like a case of being unable to get the angle needed to capture the subject.
#3 the bin chickens are in the shade and are overpowered by the very bright background.

[Grumpy John]

Thanks for taking the time to comment Todd. I'll wait and see if there are more comments before I show the unedited images with settings

[Ozzie_Traveller]

G'day GJ

Funny how your 3 images look just like [too] many of mine ...... sort of 'snaps coz I spotted something' rather than a serious attempt to create a beaut image that one wants to keep.

#1 has too many points of interest and none grab my close attention
#2 looks over exposed and not what I would expect from a camera-lens combo you are running with, and
#3 is killed off by too much o'exp for the top half of the image

As to where from here? ...

#1 ... because the ducks are all asleep, next time see if you can get someone to walk closer so that they are all looking in the same direction
#2 ... dunno - different time of day? different camera angle? flash at night?
#3 ... try to avoid such excessively bright backgrounds - maybe "vote with your feet" and hunt for a position which puts water reflections or smooth-toned grass as a background?

Hope this helps
Phil

[Grumpy John]

Thanks also for commenting Phil.
I was looking for comments regarding image quality ass opposed to content or composition. I agree with your comments on #2 & #3.
As I said above I'll wait for a couple of more comments before showing the uncropped and unprocessed images.
I was shooting the ducks from a hide they were at least 100 metres away, no way for anyone to get close and besides the other birdwatchers in the hide would get seriously pissed off.

[Grumpy John]

Okay here are the details of the setup I was using.
Canon EOS 7D Mark II with Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 APO EX DG OS HSM and Sigma APO Tele Converter 2x.

Settings:


Expanded AF area.


The following images are screenshots from Digital Photo Professional 4 and are unprocessed and uncropped. The red square represents the point of focus

#1. This image was taken from a hide at least 100 metres away from the birds. EXIF data. f8.0, 1/640, ISO 800, lens at 400mm (200mm without converter)
Perhaps I was being a bit optimistic considering the lens fitted.
To me the colours seem "off" (AWB) and the image seems overexposed.


#2. This image was taken inside the hide from about 3 metres away from the bird. EXIF data. f8.0, 1/20, ISO 16000, lens at 400mm (200mm without converter)
Obviously overexposed, I have no idea why the camera selected such a high ISO.


#3.This image was taken from about 50 metres away from the birds on an open grassed area. EXIF data. f8.0, 1/640, ISO 4000, lens at 353mm (~175mm without converter)
Obvious blowout in the background.


As all images are suffering overexposure in various degrees I am wondering if Evaluative Metering would have been a better choice over Spot Metering?

All and any comments will be greatly appreciated.

[Toddyh]

Some of the images in your explanation aren't showing but are you shooting with aperture priority?
I shoot full manual 99.99% of the time because I like to control what the camera does.

[Grumpy John]

Which images aren't showing Todd?
All the settings are shown in the first image
Are you on a PC/Mac or phone?

[Toddyh]

C2, Expanded AF area, #1 and #2.
I'm on PC but checked and same result on my android phone.

[Grumpy John]

Strange, what browser are you using?

[Grumpy John]

A test for Toddy H.

[Toddyh]

No just this one.

[Grumpy John]

Thanks mate, I'll delete the images from the post above and repost them, see if that fixes the problem.

[Grumpy John]

Can you see all of the images now Toddy? If so I'll delete this post and the one above.

[Ironwood]

Images 1&2 both look overexposed to me, #3 the background is blown out, but the birds look about the right exposure. They probably could all be improved with some PP, adjust your levels, add some contrast etc.
On #1, you are never going to get great IQ at that distance, and using a 2xTC is going to degrade it further, so my answer is get closer to your target for best results. I would have said to change to spot metering to get the exposure right for your subject, but I see you are already using that, still seems to be overexposing, I use center-weighted on my Nikon. You may have to experiment with your cameras exposure compensation.
Your images look a lot like what I get with my Tamron 150-600 when it’s cloudy and not quite enough light, a bit washed out with no real punch to them. I have overcome this to some degree by using fill flash, ala better Beamer, it’s not the answer for every occasion, but for still birds, it’s been a big improvement for me.

[Grumpy John]

Thanks for your comments Brad.
I understand that I was pushing the boundaries in image #1, but there was no way to get closer to the birds. It is a fenced off area and you have to use the hide provided for observing/photographing the birds..
I'm not sure why the camera selected such a high ISO in image #2, it is terribly overexposed.

Were you able to see all the images, ToddyH is having trouble seeing some of the images?

[Ironwood]

Is that a misprint, 160,000iso , surely it would have to be very dark to need that with f8 & 1/20th.

I can perfectly understand why you couldn’t get closer in #1, but I think it’s too much to expect to get good images under those conditions.

[Grumpy John]

Well spotted Brad, I got a tad excited and pressed one to many zeroes. All fixed now.
Doesn't your Nikon got to 160000?
I was pushing the proverbial uphill in that shot. The real purpose of the exercise was to familiarise myself with some of the new features of the 7D Mark II. While didn't come away with (m)any good shots, I learned a great deal about some of the settings.

[Isac]

I'm having an issue with the images as well John. Here's a screen shot of what I see in 4 different browsers.

[Grumpy John]

Do you think I should try deleting them and uploating again?

[Ironwood]

I couldn’t see them in post #3 earlier, but they have appeared now.

[Grumpy John]

Another thing I forgot to consider in my settings is that when you use spot metering the camera is reading the light falling in the centre of the sensor, even though you may be focused on a completely different area. Other metering selections are more forgiving.
I am interested to know if other brands of camera, Nikon, or Pentax, for example meter at the centre of the sensor, or meter at the focus point.