Advice on close up work

[markgozz]

I'm trying to get my head round the best set up for close up bird photography , Ive set up a small hide in my back garden and have been practicing on the starlings . I know that direct sun light isn't the best light to work with but the trouble I'm having is that with an overcast day and a large aperture the depth of field is very tight and doesn't show the birds off to their fullest . The settings I'm using are :

Nikon D90
Sigma 105mm 2.8 macro ( non o/s )
1/250's
f/4
ISO 2000

and the perch is about 1.5 meters from the camera .

If I close up the aperture either the iso will go through the roof or the shutter speed will drop dangerously low , at the moment I am hand holding so shutter speed is a concern .
I will set up the tripod shortly and that will help with a low shutter speed but would moving the perch further away be an advantage in increasing the depth of field .
Any advice would be gratefully received , many thanks

Mark

[cosmicma]

105 mm isn't enough for garden bird photography you should really be looking at 300mm or at least 200mm

i have a spot where i photograph birds and i use 300mm
on average i'm about 5 metres away and i'm not filling the frame with 300mm and even with at 400mm some of the smaller species don't fill the frame

if you can use a tripod or rest the camera on a bean bag or similar you can get away with shutter speeds 0f 100th or lower some times
my ideal settings are 1/500th at f8 and 100 iso but as we know in our great British weather at this time of year i'd be lucky to get any where near it
upping the iso and dropping the shutter speed is what i do first and as a last resort open the aperture to f6.3
if i can't keep within these settings the chances are i'm coming home with very few if any keepers

saying all that even at f2.8 if you keep the eye pin sharp some very pleasing images can be had but if you want the whole bird in focus your looking at no less than f8

i have a sigma 105mm f2.8 macro and to be honest i wouldn't consider using it for bird photography unless i'm photographing captive birds of prey or something similar where i just want the head in the photo

[karenoliver]

I think a larger zoom too and I would also be tempted to use flash! I know that might make the birds fly away but you would capture them, with a faster shutter speed and lower iso.

Karen

[markgozz]

Thank you both very much for your reply's and may I start off with listing all my lenses

1) Sigma 105 macro
2) Sigma 18-250 o/s

There that didn't take long .

The 18-250 can take some very good images but it really does have it's limitations , as a jack of all trades it's fine for precise work it's soft and slow , hence the use of the 105 macro . The short focal range isn't a problem in the garden because of the hide I can get the birds as close as a couple of feet away ( the sample image is at about four feet ) but this is causing problems with a narrow depth of field so like cosmicma said I think I will have to wait for brighter days so that I can close down the aperture and widen the DOF .
If I can get away with it Karen I would prefer not to use the flash which is only the camera's built in flash because of disturbing the birds and also I'm not sure if I would get the natural look that day light gives.

A new Nikon 300 f/4 is on my wish list but all I got for Christmas was half a dozen pairs of socks two jumpers and a miniature set of assorted Ports which came in very handy in drowning my sorrows .

So the 105 macro is the best lens I have at the mo , so I'll have to try and find the best way of using it .

Many thanks again and any more tips would be great .

Mark

[Cathus]

Mark,

I reckon you can lost at least a stop on that shot as it looks a little over exposed, should easily be able to go to f5.6. But I'd sacrifice the f-stop for a faster shutter speed of 1/500 and then start losing aperture.

If necessary ramp up the ISO another stop or 2 then use noise reduction on the background leaving the bird masked out of the noise reduction. You can easily denoise an out of focus background.

The closer the bird is to the lens the less likely you are able to get all of within the field of focus. Balance that with cropping in after the fact.

[markgozz]

Cathus thank you very much for your advice and tips , I really appreciate the help .

Mark

[karenoliver]

Originally Posted by markgozz

Thank you both very much for your reply's and may I start off with listing all my lenses

1) Sigma 105 macro
2) Sigma 18-250 o/s

There that didn't take long .

The 18-250 can take some very good images but it really does have it's limitations , as a jack of all trades it's fine for precise work it's soft and slow , hence the use of the 105 macro . The short focal range isn't a problem in the garden because of the hide I can get the birds as close as a couple of feet away ( the sample image is at about four feet ) but this is causing problems with a narrow depth of field so like cosmicma said I think I will have to wait for brighter days so that I can close down the aperture and widen the DOF .
If I can get away with it Karen I would prefer not to use the flash which is only the camera's built in flash because of disturbing the birds and also I'm not sure if I would get the natural look that day light gives.

A new Nikon 300 f/4 is on my wish list but all I got for Christmas was half a dozen pairs of socks two jumpers and a miniature set of assorted Ports which came in very handy in drowning my sorrows .

So the 105 macro is the best lens I have at the mo , so I'll have to try and find the best way of using it .

Many thanks again and any more tips would be great .

Mark

I use flash sometimes in the zoo and in day street shots and as long as you have metered properly the results are not too bad,in fact sometimes it can enhance the shot. Mine though is an external flash gun.

Karen

[markgozz]

Cheers Karen I'll have to give it a go and see how I get on with it .

Mark

[Markulous]

Personally, given your choice of lenses, I would definitely (and emphatically!) continue to use the 105mm - you'll get way better results with the better of the two lenses.

Secondly, use a tripod as this will allow you to get away with a much slower shutter speed - I often use down to 1/30 but resting on a tripod to minimise shake (and this is usually with longer focal lengths). OK, some shots will fail through the subject moving but it's surprising how still wildlife often can be!

Thirdly, try to increase your DOF to F5.6 or F/8 - you'll get more in focus and that aperture will give even better results from that lens. You'll probably have to up the ISO to 400 or so.

Flash can improve things but I tend to avoid if possible, occasionally using to provide some fill light

Here's a shot from my Sigma 105mm:

7D, Sigma 105, F/2.8, 1/250, handheld

OK, to get this I used a 300mm but shutter was 1/25 and aperture F/5.6 - but tripoded


This with a 70-200 @ 175, F/5.6, 1/400 (should've slowed the shutter as ISO400 - downside to shooting with sun in/out of cloud!), tripoded

[Cathus]

Originally Posted by Markulous

Thirdly, try to increase your DOF to F5.6 or F/8 - you'll get more in focus and that aperture will give even better results from that lens. You'll probably have to up the ISO to 400 or so.

He might struggle with that being as the photo was F4 and already at ISO 2000