Raptors 043_edited-2

I'm quite new to "birding" so I would like some feedback as to whether

I'm on the right track. This kestral was shot with a Sony A350,

handheld, 2.8 Minolta 70-200 with 2x.

All advice (and tips) will be appreciated - thank you.

Regards

Great isolation of subject from background and the background isn't 'busy'.  Nice pose and plenty of the birds eye.  You are on the right track.  Do you use a tripod for better control of sharpness?  On this one I would have dialed in some negative exposure compensation to get more of the detail in the whites.

Hi Grayham , that a nice looking bird. composition is also good.

you should have used negative exposure compensation because the background is darker then the bird.

the dark background is also very noisy. use lower ISO or user noise reduction SW.

Overall, you have done a nice job! and to get better just keep shooting.

Nice pose Grayham.  As mentioned before, a higher ISO, say 400, and a higher shutter speed try 1/1000th with the 280 lens will help sharpen up the image.  I don't use tripods much, even with a Canon 500 f4 (and I'm pushing up to 70 years) and still manage to nail some decently sharp images. 

All of this is going to require you to get off of program mode and into the things your camera can do better with the different modes.  Try using Aperture Priority for a start. Use the same 5 to 8 f stop range, set the ISO at 400 and let the camera set the shutter speed for a start. If you have some really fast moving stuff you  might try Shutter Priority and set it at 1200th of faster depending on the light.

Then comes the post processing and fixing up the image in Photoshop or whatever.   Just watch the endless tutorials you can pull up on the internet for help on those....  ciao.

Thanks for your comments Charles & Amir. I do have a tripod, but found it too restrictive during the raptor display. I may have also contributed to the background noise in the cropping process as this 8 inch bird was about 30 metres away.

Regards

Thanks Steve....... I've made a note of your tips for my next sojourn. Love your work by the way.

Regards