Not really... I went to a bird shelter and shot birds while they sat still. Through cages. Had to use the telephoto though. More like a museum... or a zoo.

Lessons learned for when I *actually* go shooting birds (not that I'm super into it): Take pictures of the full bird (I have a few but I like these ones better), and also don't expect to get good shots through those metal fences. Also learned to shoot at a higher aperture than 4.5-5.6... the beak is too long when close up like that to keep everything in proper focus. I'm sure focus is going to be a lot more difficult with a moving target...

Focal length is mainly 220mm on DX with 70-300mm VR. Lens is as sharp as it gets at 70-100mm... if it started at f3.5 it'd be a nuts lens for walk-around just for that focal length. It stays sharp up to about 220mm, and then starts to really degrade in sharpness after 240mm... but is still good.

http://imageshack.us/a/img545/2087/z36b.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img839/6233/hueg.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img32/8965/b5m6.jpg


This post was edited by Canadian_Man on Aug 13 2013 10:48pm

next time reduce it to max 1600long

1st: focus seems very slightly off, the whole image is unappealing, the bg is bland and boring (plus obv not natural) but the green leaves directly behind its head (and only there) makes it worse

2nd: focus and exposure is good, I like the stare, obv the fence sucks, background isn't distracting, only real flaw is the composition/crop - full bird would've been best

3rd: not bad at all but the focus is just a few mm closer on his beak, could've used 1lower f-stop

4th: well done!!! its all good, all that it needs is a little crop to eliminate the dead space on the right see crop
e: 1more point, you could improve colours etc in PS, it is a little dull as it seems to have been shot while it was cloudy



This post was edited by jayandnix on Aug 14 2013 02:13am

Thanks for the input!

I found a lot of the full-body shots ended up getting ruined since I'd end up getting too much fence in the shot at that point. I also wasn't thinking about composition too much with my gf tugging at my arm to get moving from one bird to another haha.

Hopefully the edits are good, aside from the cropping. I have just been editing by feel going through all the settings in lightroom from top to bottom (aside from editing specific colors/color tones individually). All but the first shot were cropped, so my composition is a fair bit off for sure.

edit: Hmmm so I should work on the colors. I pulled out as much color with contrast shifting, shifts in sharpness, temperature, tint, vibrance, and saturation (as much as each would allow). I of course edited the lights, darks, shadows, etc, etc. However I haven't done any edits to each specific color group.

This post was edited by Canadian_Man on Aug 14 2013 02:19am

when it comes to "vibrance, and saturation" I only use separate sliders

The first one is by far the best.

Composition is severely lacking in the others. I know its hard to create a well composed shot of birds in cages, but there is a reason people go into the wild with thousands of dollars of photography equipment and camp for weeks.

Rule of thirds. Mind the background (for example, look at your second shot. branch and pipe take more attention than the bird). subject, foreground, and background.

now, its seems pretty obvious to me that you really enjoy photographing nature and wildlife. if you are using a telephoto lens, id recommend going up to f/8-11. increase your iso if you really have to.

and yes, shooting through fences will be shit. at a certain point one has to consider is it even worth taking the shot. its like, cool birds and all, but overall the shot says nothing, isnt very interesting (except the first. the composition makes the animal look powerful and demands attention). try taking some more time to consider what you are shooting and not just snapping 5-10 shots and picking the best one.

and imo you really emphasize the post processing too much. a really good shot will need only minor processing. keep in mind the light (e.g. time of day) and composition. good light can make the difference between a snapshot and something far more exquisite.

This post was edited by khemist on Aug 15 2013 05:43pm

wtf that first one is amazing

/edit woops misread

This post was edited by Jadinkalage_Morgoon_JR on Aug 15 2013 07:25pm

Thanks for all the input

I realized my composition sucked when I got home. It was near impossible to get a well-composed shot while I was there, which added to the fact that I wasn't thinking too hard about composition in the first place >_<; Learned a bit of a lesson on that front.

This post was edited by Canadian_Man on Aug 15 2013 07:53pm