2 Robins

[Paul-UK]

HI all,

Having not picked my camera up since November, and being a total beginner, I found when I did pick it up, I had forgotten the controls, so it was time to get used to the controls before taking shots again. Easy said, I found myself learning the controls then saw these two robins, I just had to at least try get a couple of shots, but they were not still for long.

Camera Canon D5 Mark IV, Lens Tamron 150-600mm, f5-6.3, user a beginner

2 Robins
Taken on a very overcast day, poor lighting, 4/2/2023

First Shot 5795
EXIF - 1/400 - f6.3 - ISO2000 (Auto) - 7 frames per second set.
Exposure program Normal, Meter Mode Multi Segment, [Exposure Bias 0 EV], FL 500mm cropped

Second Shot 5797 at 3/7th of a second after
EXIF - 1/400 - f6.3 - ISO 4000 (Auto)
Exposure program Normal, Meter Mode Multi Segment, [Exposure Bias 1 EV], FL 500mm cropped

All comments, good or bad are welcomed, please say it as you see it, suggestions always welcome.

Thanks in advance

Paul

[eaglem]

Nice catch of two very colourful Birds.

[HansE]

Lovely little birds, "pretty as a picture!"

[David_MC]

Beautiful birds. The image is a bit soft with a bit of noise. Where these cropped heavily? Maybe a fastener shutter speed could have helped. Otherwise, great shots.

[Paul-UK]

Beautiful birds. The image is a bit soft with a bit of noise. Where these cropped heavily? Maybe a fastener shutter speed could have helped. Otherwise, great shots.

Thank you for the suggestions David. Yes it was heavily cropped. The lens was at 500mm of the 600mm max, approximately 30 feet away, distance from sun lounge chair to bird feeder.

I had just been playing with the camera to get more familiar with the buttons, etc. I had just about completed setting up back button focus and saw the two robins, I just had to try get a shot, but it was not a good one, nice of the two robins together, poor from my end. But I believe all shots are part of the learning curve, certainly at my stage, it would be wrong to expect birds posing and waiting for me to get my act together.

I did feel the shots were a bit noisy, but I find it is better to hear it from you guys who are experienced.

The original shot I took, before cropping, is included here, the noise is evident.

Thanks again

Paul

[David_MC]

Looks like cloudy day light as well which will make the images softer.

[Paul-UK]

It was David, it was a very overcast day, 75% cloud cover and really dull.

There are some very large Birch and willow trees immediately behind the fence which can also affect the light conditions.

If anything, the lightest part in the image was the light coloured fence, which would also go against the shot, I think.

[Isac]

I think you did well Paul. As you didn't have a lot of time to play with the settings. Maybe a less tighter crop would be good as well. Good to see you setting up BBF. Much better than half press of the shutter. Perhaps look at setting up a couple of the custom shooting modes so you can select C1, C2 or C3 quickly for your favourite settings. I am always using these for different scenarios. I have C1 for 5 x Bracketed shots, C2 for Birds Single Shot and C3 for Birds in Flight Rapid Shots (AI-Servo).

[wigz]

Nice soft light Paul. It does look a little soft, but a nice pose with good colour. The tighter the crop the more obvious any issues such as noise and softness become, so a loose crop helps. Also most experts tend to give the birds more space. A bit more separation between the birds would have been good, and moving to the right slightly may have given this, but you usually don't have much time before they move.