TUITION NEEDED (I'm serious)

[JimMorris]

Hi everyone, as some of you will have noticed by my posts that I'm not to clever on this photography lark and as I have recieved some good advice on this forum I have a request to make.

There must be someone out there that gives tuition in bird photography. I'm not very good at apertures, shutter speeds and some of the other finer points of a camera so if there is someone who is willing to help me a bit I would be eternally grateful.

I'm quite prepared to travel to your area and pay for your time and expenses. This may sound like a strange request but I'm getting desperate. If anyone wants to take up the challenge just send me a private message. Any replies will be confidential.
Happy birding.
Jim.

PS. The reason I have posted here is that I have a Canon 40D and 400mm 5.6 prime lens. I won't be on the forum again untill Friday.

[Malcolm Stewart]

Thought I'd better check out your gallery before replying. I'm impressed!

You've captured good shots of birds which I normally see disappearing into the distance, or into the local wood. Most of my bird shots are of the much easier water fowl, as I've rarely seen jays, and woodpeckers and redstarts even less often.

It might be worth seeing if your local library has some books on general photography from which you can get familiar with the basics, before going for the more specialised stuff. (I've got the old classic "Wildlife Photography" by Eric Hosking & John Gooders - much of the text is about hides and fieldcraft. The photographic side has changed enormously since it was published in 1973.)

[Epsomsalt]

Hi Jim,

You have a better camera (I have the EOS 400D) and the same prime lens as myself. I think the lens is an absolute cracker and to be honest I have had good results just by setting the camera to shutter priority (i.e you set the shutter speed and let the camera calculate the aperture). I always try and use at least a shutter speed of 1/500th of a second to avoid camera shake with this lens- a good rule of thumb is to set the shutter speed to at least the same fraction of a second as the maximum length of the lens e.g a 300mm lens should have at least a 1/300th second shutter speed.

In poor light you will have to increase the ISO in order to take photographs ( the largest aperture on the lens is F5.6 and sometimes you just cannot produce a good image at this aperture with the faster shutter speed. There is just not enough light to produce the image. Do not be tempted to use a slower shutter speed to compensate for poor light, use a higher ISO instead - this is where the EOS 40D you have really outshines the 400D, dealing with 'noise' so much better.

My 'base' ISO is 400 unless it is extremely bright when I might reduce down to 200. Images taken on my camera with an ISO higher than 800 are virtually unusable but the EOS40D is reputed to produce good quality images even at ISO 1600. Owners of this model will be better able to confirm (Roy C produces excellent images at higher ISO using his EOS40D).

Finally I suggest you always shoot in RAW which gives you so many more options to edit a badly exposed shot. Typically I will download images to my PC and open them using Adobe Photoshop's Camera Raw converter - the one supplied by Canon with your camera is perfectly adequate though. I can then change the exposure either way (over or under, + / -) by up to 4 full stops each way. Once I am reasonably happy the exposure is ok I usually tweak saturation a bit then increase the image size to 100% and click on the 'detail' tab to 'sharpen' - don't overdo it though. I then open the file and can fine tune the image using levels or curves until I am OK with it.

I hope this helps.
Cheers,
Chris

[JohnZ]

Without wishing to start an argument I would suggest that Jim stays well clear of shutter priority and sticks to aperture priority. I may be wrong but I suspect that the majority of folks on here, and other forums, all use aperture priority.
As he already has a Canon 400mm f5.6 lens by using AV he can tell immediately whether he has the necessary speed for the shot or not. If not he can just raise the ISO. Also you can use this lens wide open without any ill effects and still get the desired result.
Also by using TV in bright weather you may find that the camera decides to give you a smaller aperture setting in which case you get more DOF which you may not want. i.e. you will get bags of the background which may, or may not, distract folks from the object of the piccie, the bird.

[Vectis Birder]

Jim, check this out: Mike Atkinson's Bird Photography Tutorials (http://mikeatkinson.net/tutorials.htm). He also offers one to one tuition (http://mikeatkinson.net/workshops.htm).

Not that you need any, judging by your Gallery! Your Avocet photo with all those wondeful colours in the water is superb.

[JimMorris]

Thank you all for the advice.

Malcolm= I'm lucky enough to have a good variety of birds visiting the garden.

Chris= Cheers for taking the time to explain all that. I shall certainly give it a go.

John= All my photos have been taken with aperture priority. I'll try both and see how I get on.

Vectis birder= Thanks for the link. The Avocet was a lucky shot.

All the best.
Jim

[mike a]

Vectis Birder,
Thanks for passing on the link to my Bird Photography Tutorials and Workshops (http://mikeatkinson.net/tutorials.htm).

Jim,
I'd be delighted to give you one-to-one Bird Photography tuition (and I'm only 20 miles away at Congleton, Cheshire). If you'd like full details, please email me using the Contact page on my website (http://mikeatkinson.net/contact.htm).

Kind Regards,
Mike Atkinson.

[dave123]

well jim hope you take up mikes offer,what ive seen of his work he must be one of the best in the buisness.

[Vectis Birder]

Vectis Birder,
Thanks for passing on the link to my Bird Photography Tutorials and Workshops (http://mikeatkinson.net/tutorials.htm).

Kind Regards,
Mike Atkinson.

No problem, Mike. Your site and tutorials are excellent and a big help. :t:

[chewie]

for someone who says he needs tutorial, youve got some fab shots!

what im most impressed with is the fact that you have found subjects to shoot.

learning the basic aspects of photography is easy in comparison to finding birds!

:t:

[christineredgate]

Jim,I came across a mag ,Photoplus-Canon edtion. Websites are Future publishing,photoplus @futurenet.co.uk or www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk (http://www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk)
This mag is great.It shows all techniques for shooting with Canon cameras.Sport,wildlife ,macro etc.
worth visiting the website for a look.

[Jaff]

If you're coming along on the next NW meet, whenever I can build up the energy to organise it that is, you'll be able to pick the minds of some of BF's best photographers Jim (and worst in my case!). Or if you're going to the birdfair next weekend there'll be plenty of professional photographers there whom I'm sure can give you some pointers.

Aside from that Birdforum was supposed to have a photography weekend this year I believe (similar to last year's) but I don't know what the current situation is regarding that, try PMing Andy Bright to find out the latest.

[JimMorris]

I've been away for a while, just caught up with the latest replies. Thank you all for the replies and the advice. I shall be only to glad to take up Mike's offer as soon as as I caught up with the jobs to be done.

Not doing the bird fair this year but don't mind the NW meet Jaff. Be nice to meet up again. Thanks for the link Christine.
Jim.