Attempt at wildlife shots

[Evad]

I went out this past weekend to take some wildlife shots.

I know the lighting is real bad on these (shooting into the sun) but thought I would share them anyway. I've only had the D80 since Dec. Still have a long way to go in the learning curve...... All shot with an 18 - 70mm lens

These are some Canadian geese taking off at the Oakville Harbour

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Thanks for looking.

 

[My2Girls66]

They look good especially under the tough lighting. You'll be looking for a longer lens soon enough

 

[DizzyV6P]

Pretty soon, you'll want one of these

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/70200vr.htm

Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 It costs a mere $1650.

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

Good job especially considering how tough the lighting must've been. I had similar issues when I was a DLR in January. Sometimes I wanted to shoot something and the sun was behind the subject so I was shooting into the light and everything ended up looking underexposed. I am too much of a novice myself to figure out how to correct it. I was at the wrong area of the park at the wrong time. Anyway, I wish a pro would pipe in with suggestions on how to correct this issue. (If you don't mind Evad...) I tried to change the EC but that didn't seem to help much either. Even correcting the RAW files didn't help. Some areas were still blown out and other areas too dark. The dark areas were correctable, but not the blown out areas. (My knowledge of RAW is practically useless too, LOL, so maybe they are correctable but I just don't know how.) I tried P mode, various Apertures and Shutter speeds, even Manual, but I finally gave up on good pics for that part of the park on that day. Sorry so log winded...

 

[jann1033]

if there is a big difference in the top and forefront ie like a sunset you can use a graduated neutral density filter. it doesn't have a sharp line where it goes from gray to clear but you can try to line up the "line" that changes color in someplace it is hidden , like a horizon so it's not an obvious change
otherwise,
if you don't want a silhouette, if you can lock your exposure you can lock your exposure on the part that is dark ( ie if you are taking a photo of a person with the sun behind them you can zoom in to have their face fill the frame then lock the exposure on the face and recompose) if you want a silhouette, you lock exposure on the sky( not the sun, just the sky beside it) then recompose and shoot.

really imo here the exposure if pretty good throughout the photo, it could have been a tad lighter but the highlights aren't blown. if you are talking about losing some of the shadow detail in the wings on these if you have lightroom you can use the brush tool and just lighten the wings a little. it is very subtle so it usually looks natural. not sure if these were in raw or not but you might be able to fix it if they were just by adjusting the sliders a little

i like the take off one with the little feet wakes behind them

 

[zackiedawg]

Not bad for first time - and very hard conditions for sure. Some of the in-flight poses on the birds came out pretty good. You could probably improve those a bit with some post processing to bring up the shadows a bit for some more details on the birds.

In general, there isn't too much one can do to get both highlights and shadows perfect when shooting into the sun like that - there basically has to be a compromise as it's beyond the capability of a camera. You're either going to expose for the birds, and get a blown out background, or expose for the background and get silhouetted birds. You have to try to find that middle ground as best as you can. In post processing, you can recover a bit - even more if shooting RAW - if you're willing to put the work and time in. When recovering blown highlights, you're pretty limited with jpg files, but raw files will give you some room. When recovering shadows, you can do much better with both raw and jpg, but you also tend to get noise and grain as you boost the shadows lighter.

As for shooting, if you're not real instinctive or skilled with manual settings changes, you can get by shooting in P, S, or A mode with autofocus...a few settings on the camera may make things a little better. I'd recommend setting focus AND metering modes to 'center-weighted' or spot...that way the camera will try to meter to favor the subject in the crosshairs. When shooting 'action' shots, S priority, or a sports mode that keeps shutter speed selection above 1/500, would be best. You need 1/500 or so at the minimum, and preferably 1/1000 or faster to freeze fast-moving action.

When it comes down to it though, the best contributor to your photos would be avoiding those shooting conditions of shooting into the sun or mid-to-late day harsh sunlight! Try moving your angle if possible, try different times of day, especially morning and late afternoon - the light is softer and warmer and the shadows are cast in a more dimensional and dramatic way.

 

[Evad]

Thank you all for the compliments and especially the tips. I will try and put the tips to good use next time I head out.

I am shooting in jpeg right now mostly because I don't have a decent program for any pp work. Also I have no experience with filters and wouldn't even know what to look for. All part of the learning curve I suppose

As for the longer lens, I have my sights set on a 70 - 300mm lens. I've read great things about this lens and I like the reach it will give me.

If anybody has one please post some images from it if you can.

Wouldn't mind getting a 2.8 zoom but I think with the cost that will have to wait. Though it would come in handy when I shoot the kids hockey games.

Again, thank you all for looking!!!

 

[My2Girls66]

A few from my 70-300mm VR- got it last summer.

@300mm

@300mm

@220mm

@70mm

@185mm

@250

@250

 

[Evad]

A few from my 70-300mm VR- got it last summer.

Great shots Susan. The lens looks awesome. You sure know how to get some great pics with it. Thanks so much for sharing. It just reaffirms why I want this lens.

 

[Gdad]

Nice series Dave- I like the second one particularly.

As for the longer lens, I have my sights set on a 70 - 300mm lens. I've read great things about this lens and I like the reach it will give me.

If anybody has one please post some images from it if you can.

You will enjoy the 70-300vr.

One of it-

And a few with it-

 

[Evad]

Nice series Dave- I like the second one particularly.



You will enjoy the 70-300vr.

One of it-

Thanks so much Jeff.

Great shots from you as well!! I seen the above shot over on the Cafe. Jenny would love such a camera. She can have the D80 once I upgrade.... Like that will happen any time soon. Until then I will just have to satisfy my NAS with buying new glass.