jimthomson
Well-known member
Are you shooting JPEG of RAW?
-
Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.
Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
Greetings Everyone! Question for Canon 100x400 users (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter JWellman
- Start date
Keith Reeder
Watch the birdie...
I agree completely, Adrian - yet again it's sweeping generalisations (an example of which is what I quoted) that I'm reacting to.
I sodding hate generalisations.
Last edited:
Keith Reeder
Watch the birdie...
Why would we? Jessica's images are fine as far as focus and sharpness are concerned.
JWellman
Member
I'm shooting RAW Jim.
Well b****r me, I didn't know you could do that!! I've learnt something knew today. I should really go back & read the manual from cover to cover
.In theory could the pointers in this thread be applied to any zoom lens? I was thinking of applying them to my Tokina, which I know isn't as good a quality as the Canon, but they may give me a good starting point??
Richard
Keith Reeder
Watch the birdie...
Richard,
yeah, the suggestions here are "across the board" advice - they'll work just as well for Tokina as any other brand of lens (although again, you need to find out for yourself what works best for you - nothing here is "the only way").
Here's another hint: if you're using your lens handheld, really put the effort into developing a sound technique - I always point people at this page round about now..!
I also have a few suggestions on my little website.
yeah, the suggestions here are "across the board" advice - they'll work just as well for Tokina as any other brand of lens (although again, you need to find out for yourself what works best for you - nothing here is "the only way").
Here's another hint: if you're using your lens handheld, really put the effort into developing a sound technique - I always point people at this page round about now..!
I also have a few suggestions on my little website.
Last edited:
Keith, agree 100% with this bit, and one of my aims for 2011 is to do exactly this, because there's no way I'll be able to buy a 100-400 this year!!
Thanks for the pointers to the websites as well, will be reading & digesting the contents.
Richard
Keith Reeder
Watch the birdie...
Yep, good point Huntso - the back button AF method has some real advantages.
Glad you agree its worth mentioning, in that case this explains it a bit more
http://www.usa.canon.com/dlc/controller?act=GetArticleAct&articleID=2286
I found this book to be of great help too http://www.amazon.com/Digital
Although its actually entitled Landscapes it has a wealth of useful information and where I first read of the above mentioned method. The author and his wife are actually well respected nature photographers and is in my opinion one of the best books I have ever read whatever your chosen genre might be
http://www.usa.canon.com/dlc/controller?act=GetArticleAct&articleID=2286
I found this book to be of great help too http://www.amazon.com/Digital
Although its actually entitled Landscapes it has a wealth of useful information and where I first read of the above mentioned method. The author and his wife are actually well respected nature photographers and is in my opinion one of the best books I have ever read whatever your chosen genre might be
shinytopman
Active member
Im reading on with great interest as ive just ordered my 100-400L
So thanks guys n gurls for the info keep it coming as JWellman says there is plenty of homework in the pipeline when i get my lens some time real soon (i hope.... he says with his fingers crossed)
So thanks guys n gurls for the info keep it coming as JWellman says there is plenty of homework in the pipeline when i get my lens some time real soon (i hope.... he says with his fingers crossed)
tjsimonsen
Well-known member
Keith, I heard about doing this before (or applying sharpening or other adjustments to a part of the image only). How do you do that? Tried as I have, I haven't figured out how to do it in CS2.
Thomas
Keith Reeder
Watch the birdie...
Hi Thomas,
I'm not familiar with CS2 but I've checked the interwebs to make sure it supports duplicate layers, and sure enough...
So, what I do (and it's not the only way to get the same result, but this way works for me and it's easy to do) is:
With the image open in your editor, create a Duplicate Layer (Select "Layer" then "Duplicate Layer" from the menu bar).
Apply the required effect or filter (NR for example) to the whole Duplicate layer.
Toggle the background layer's visibility off ("Background copy" on top, click on the "eye" icon of "Background" in the Layer palette) then use the Eraser brush at a suitable size to quickly rub out the layer from over the bird and anything else you don't want the NR on.
The beauty of this is that there's no need at all for precision: getting the brush close to the edges of the bird is accurate enough.
Things should look something like the attached image.
When you're done with the brush, click the eye icon again, merge the visible layers, and you're done.
If you're applying sharpening, it's the same process, but you erase from areas of the image like the background around the bird.
I'm not familiar with CS2 but I've checked the interwebs to make sure it supports duplicate layers, and sure enough...
So, what I do (and it's not the only way to get the same result, but this way works for me and it's easy to do) is:
With the image open in your editor, create a Duplicate Layer (Select "Layer" then "Duplicate Layer" from the menu bar).
Apply the required effect or filter (NR for example) to the whole Duplicate layer.
Toggle the background layer's visibility off ("Background copy" on top, click on the "eye" icon of "Background" in the Layer palette) then use the Eraser brush at a suitable size to quickly rub out the layer from over the bird and anything else you don't want the NR on.
The beauty of this is that there's no need at all for precision: getting the brush close to the edges of the bird is accurate enough.
Things should look something like the attached image.
When you're done with the brush, click the eye icon again, merge the visible layers, and you're done.
If you're applying sharpening, it's the same process, but you erase from areas of the image like the background around the bird.
Attachments
CornishExile
rydhsys rag Kernow lemmyn!
Great thread, guys. Good to see all the great advice in one place. Should be made a sticky - these queries come up time and again.
ce
ce
Keith Reeder
Watch the birdie...
I don't know why there isn't a hints and tips/how-to Sticky section, to be honest.
Robert L Jarvis
Robert L Jarvis
Good idea Keith.
Roy C
Occasional bird snapper
Layer mask's are useful for all sorts of selective adjustments including shadow/highlights, Blurring, sharpening, noise reduction, saturation,selective colour adjustments, contrast and just about anything else you want.
I create a duplicate layer as a matter of course for most of the adjustment I do - If you want to selectively apply the adjustment just just create the mask and paint away where you want the adjustment to apply, if you make a mistake just invert the brush colour and re-mask the part you made a mistake on. If you do not need an adjustment to be made selectively then do not create a mask. Either way just flatten the image when finished.
Layer masks are well worth using IMO and are really easy to learn.
tjsimonsen
Well-known member
Keith and Roy, thanks for the explanations. I will try it out.
Thomas
Thomas
