I had my eyes opened significantly by this thread on POTN -
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=705691. This is where I came to understand that long shots and heavy cropping were no way to secure beautiful images. Of course, I knew that heavy cropping, especially with the 50D, was a bit futile, but I guess we all have hopes and expectations until reality catches up with us.
I do have to say that birding seems to be one of the more demanding photographic disciplines because of so many factors that challenge us. It's the only photography I do where cropping seems, unfortunately, to be almost a necessity. With that in mind, I don't always find it reasonable to blame the equipment for poor results. In fact, the more experienced I become (a long way to go yet) the more I realise that it is my failings or unrealistic expectations that are to blame. You need to make your own "luck", so....
- Choose your time of day wisely so that you have cool, undisturbed air and light that comes in lower and lights the side/underside of the bird rather than the top only.
- Get much closer to your subject. This is not just a question of longer glass. You need to physically close the distance to your subject. Getting closer will fill the frame more, get more pixels on your subject, gather more light, record more detail, look sharper and less noisey. You will also avoid issues with dirty/hazy air and heat haze. If you are physically closer you can shoot with shorter glass, which means you can use a lower shutter speed, which means you can use a lower ISO and/or stop down a little to sharpen that lens. As a technique it will also cost you far less in glass and support systems and your back will thank you too.
- Position yourself so that the light is in your favour, somewhere behind you, usually, and not so that you are shooting into a backlit scene.
- Expose correctly, or even ETTR. Do not underexpose, especially if you are at higher ISOs already. I've been shooting in manual mode for around a year now. It makes results so much more consistent and controllable. It's got to the point that I almost cannot face shooting in one of the autoexposure modes. That's not willy waving or anything. I simply find manual exposure easier. The light often does not vary much, from moment to moment, and once I have a good exposure dialed in that may well do me perfectly for several minutes, if not hours. If the light is changing then, quite honestly, I am likely to prefer a shot lit by sunshine than cloud, so I can simply choose not to release the shutter if the sun disappears for a moment.
To sum up - shoot in good light; fill the frame (as best you can) and nail your exposure. If you slip up on any or all of those things then your IQ will go downhill.
Here are a few of my recent shots with my 50D and 100-400. All were shot at 400 ISO
