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Black Headed Gull. (1 Viewer)

Your opinions for this complete novice please:


If you just want "Great shot!", don't read the rest of my post - Flickr is better than here for that;) But if you really want critique that might help you to get better results...

Firstly, if you want any useful critique, you'll need to provide EXIF data, as it's been stripped from the image. So Shutter Speed, Aperture, ISO, Camera make/model, Lens, how much cropping was done, distance to subject, conditions, etc. The more info you give, the more detailed a critique you get back

All I can say without any of the above details is;

  • It looks like you've overexposed the whites, but that can be very difficult to get right in bright sunlight. If your camera has a small sensor (P&S Superzoom) the Dynamic Range is limited, meaning it can be impossible to get much detail in some whites (same applies to blacks)
  • Most shots of a moving subject look better with space for the subject to move/fly into... so crop or frame the shot with more space in front of the bird than behind (same applies to a static subject, but with the space where it's facing).
  • The image also looks noisy, but that could be due to distance, atmospheric conditions, high ISO, or limits of the equipment used.
  • There is some blurring that may be caused by the shutter speed or by panning but not keeping up with the bird. There's nothing wrong with blurred wings, but generally the head needs to be sharp - so either a fast shutter speed, or pan the camera with the bird... or both

But... any image of a bird in flight is a success, no matter what equipment is used. Hopefully others will reply with other opinions... especially if you post the EXIF data and shooting conditions etc.
 
If you just want "Great shot!", don't read the rest of my post - Flickr is better than here for that;) But if you really want critique that might help you to get better results...

Firstly, if you want any useful critique, you'll need to provide EXIF data, as it's been stripped from the image. So Shutter Speed, Aperture, ISO, Camera make/model, Lens, how much cropping was done, distance to subject, conditions, etc. The more info you give, the more detailed a critique you get back

All I can say without any of the above details is;

  • It looks like you've overexposed the whites, but that can be very difficult to get right in bright sunlight. If your camera has a small sensor (P&S Superzoom) the Dynamic Range is limited, meaning it can be impossible to get much detail in some whites (same applies to blacks)
  • Most shots of a moving subject look better with space for the subject to move/fly into... so crop or frame the shot with more space in front of the bird than behind (same applies to a static subject, but with the space where it's facing).
  • The image also looks noisy, but that could be due to distance, atmospheric conditions, high ISO, or limits of the equipment used.
  • There is some blurring that may be caused by the shutter speed or by panning but not keeping up with the bird. There's nothing wrong with blurred wings, but generally the head needs to be sharp - so either a fast shutter speed, or pan the camera with the bird... or both

But... any image of a bird in flight is a success, no matter what equipment is used. Hopefully others will reply with other opinions... especially if you post the EXIF data and shooting conditions etc.

Thanks Chris for the excellent feedback.:t:

Can you please tell me how i include the information you need in my pictures.

I can tell you i used a Nikon D100, Sigma 70-300 F4-5.6 DG Macro.

This is the information i can see:

Raw
L (3008x2000) 11.2MB
300mm Auto (ISO 1250)
1/250s f6.3
+0.3 EV- Auto 0

Subject was approx 50 meters away.
 
Hi, Barry,

If you use "Save for Web" in Photoshop, it strips all the metadata, so there's no EXIF - other programs might do the same.

A couple of things from the info you've provided:

  • Your shutter speed was a bit slow for a bird in flight, but not impossible if you get the hang of panning with your subject. As a general rule 1/1000th is a safe(ish) bet for slow large birds like Gulls, but you'd be better with 1/2000th - 1/8000th for small fast birds... assuming your reactions are fast enough... mine aren't ;)
  • You've got positive Exposure Compensation (+0.3 EV) - I'd tend to go the other way with a white bird, so -0.3 or -0.7 - more still if needed.
  • Judging by your ISO and Shutter Speed (even allowing for the positive Exposure Compensation), the light wasn't very good, so not the best time for flight shots.
  • I've got only a cheap (< £150) 70-300mm Lens for my Sony A58... it's not really enough reach, and I won't get really good results with any subject over 10m. So all in all, you got a decent result at 50m with such a limited focal length. If you'd have had good light and a Shutter Speed of 1/1000th or more, and negative Exposure Compensation - you'd have got a much better result. The F6.3 Aperture is OK, but F8.0 might be better if the light is good enough.
 
If you go to your original picture and right click on it, one of the options should be Properties.

A window will open the last page on it will be Details.

That should hold most of the details that Chris is interested in.
 
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