Photographing multiple perched birds (1 Viewer)

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costaricafinca

Well-known member

• Nov 13, 2011

• #1

I am never satisfied with the results when I take a 'shot' of 1-2 perched humming birds. Suggestions, please!

I use a Canon T2i with a ET 300 usually with a 1x4x Extender. I also have EF100-400, EF 75-300 and EF 18-55 lenses.

 

Zackiedawg

Well-known member

• Nov 14, 2011

• #2

What is it that isn't working out well? My first guess would be that you can only get 1 in focus - which is more than likely a depth of field issue. Working with longer focal lengths, the depth of field can become quite shallow - so much so that a bird's eye can be in focus, but his wings are not. So two birds sitting on a perch at slightly different distances to you can mean one is on focus, and the other not. Or the camera tries to split the difference between them, and neither is in focus.

The best you can try to do is to stop down the aperture to increase the focus zone/depth of field. It's still difficult with long focal length lenses, but you can gain a few inches or more by stopping down from F5.6 to F10. Of course, you'll need to make up for the loss of light, which might mean accepting a slower shutter speed, or increasing the ISO.

If you're issue is something else, please note what it might be.

 

Wildmoreway

Well-known member

• Nov 14, 2011

• #3

The T2i is a recent camera so you should be able to get pretty much noise free images at up to iso 800 and satisfactory images at iso 1600, as Zac say's you will have to look at stopping down low to f10 or even lower and working with a lower shutter speed. Inevitably the camera is going to focus on one bird and under a microscope it is always likely that bird will look slightly sharper than the others.

 

Roy C

Occasional bird snapper

• Nov 14, 2011

• #4

Are you saying that perhaps, one bird is in focus and the other is not? if so then with multiple birds you will need to stop down to increase the depth of field.

 

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costaricafinca

Well-known member

• Nov 14, 2011

• #5

I usually don't keep the one's I am not satisfied with and I don't very often manage to catch two on a branch ( I deleted the ones yesterday before I decided to post this question)) but here are two old ones, taken with a Canon XTi, which shows something similar to what I mean.
I do still like these though, since there is obviously a good discussion going on.

 

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Roy C

Occasional bird snapper

• Nov 15, 2011

• #6

costaricafinca said:

I usually don't keep the one's I am not satisfied with and I don't very often manage to catch two on a branch ( I deleted the ones yesterday before I decided to post this question)) but here are two old ones, taken with a Canon XTi, which shows something similar to what I mean.
I do still like these though, since there is obviously a good discussion going on.

Click to expand...

There is no EXIF with your shots but it is obvious that you have not got sufficient DOF to render both birds sharp and in focus - as previously stated you will have to stop down to acheive this but that has its drawbacks (slower shutter speed or higher ISO). BTW even the one bird that is 'almost' in focus is soft - the 300/4 or 100-400 is capable of far better images than this.

 

Last edited: Nov 15, 2011

Zackiedawg

Well-known member

• Nov 15, 2011

• #7

Agreed - this is clearly the type of situation being discussed - the depth of field is too shallow to fit both birds. This is actually somewhat difficult as the focal lengths get long, even stopping down the depth of field is quite narrow, so two birds that are more than a few inches fore or aft of eachother can still suffer some out of focus issues. I think you'd have improved results stopped down significantly, such as F10-12 or so, but that's going to be dictated by how much light was available for the shot, and how much more ISO you could use with acceptable results to gain up.

 

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seaspirit

Well-known member

• Nov 18, 2011

• #8

There are DOF calculators on the web (e.g. http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html) that are a nice tools to get a feel what kind of DOF you will get with a given focal length and subject distance at different f-stops.

Depending on focal length and distance even stopping down will likely not increase DOF sufficiently to get both birds in focus in a situation like the one above, unless you really go past f10. If you have sufficient light this may be an option, using a flash could be another.

What may work better without compromising on shutter speed and workable ISO range -if possible- is to change your position to get both birds closer to a common focal plane.

ulli

 

NoSpringChicken

Well-known member

• Nov 18, 2011

• #9

You have had some great advice posted here but don't forget that you are asking the camera to do something which your eyes are not capable of. When you observed the two birds, one or other them would be out of focus but your brain would instantly refocus on each bird you looked at and ignore the other one. Personally, I think it can be quite appealing to have one bird in focus and the other blurred, in some cases, as it can give a nice feeling of depth to the shot.

Ron

 

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fugl

Well-known member

• Nov 18, 2011

• #10

As others have pointed out, DOF can be an insoluble problem when photographing two or more pieces of important subject matter at close range. One way out of this is to take 2 separate photographs, one focused on one of the subjects, the other on the other, & combine them in Photoshop (or similar program) as I've done here.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fugl/405870797/in/set-72157603329752324

Some people would consider this "cheating" I know but I don't have a problem with it as long as the photographer owns up to what he's done.

 

mr_birdman

No longer a Canon Snob.

• Nov 22, 2011

• #11

If you can compose with both birds parallel to the sensor then you'll get both sharp.

 

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DegasGoneDigital

Member

• May 1, 2012

• #12

I would either focus on one and shoot and then on the other and make two separate images or set up a perch, parallel to the camera, near the feeder. Judging the offset of the two Hummers on the branch and the compression factor of long lenses, it would be difficult to get both tack sharp.