Advice on close up work

[Markulous]

Originally Posted by Cathus

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

Ummm, you could always be radical and slow the shutter - as my shots plainly show

[markgozz]

Thanks for your advice and sample images Mark and yes setting up the tripod will be me next step , that way if the weather conditions aren't in my favor I can lower the shutter speed to balance out the ISO and f/stop .
I think what I must realize is that some times conditions will dictate that I will not be able to get the shot I want or at least not with the settings I want .

Thanks again for all the advice

Mark

[Cathus]

Originally Posted by markgozz

I think what I must realize is that some times conditions will dictate that I will not be able to get the shot I want or at least not with the settings I want .

I think you've hit the nail on the head there. It's all a balance between the conditions and the equipment available. You can't do everything all the time.

[Cathus]

Originally Posted by Markulous

Ummm, you could always be radical and slow the shutter - as my shots plainly show

I was really talking specifically in relation to the shot of the starling & lighting conditions available. It's difficult sometimes comparing photos taken in different conditions and with different lenses.

I note that of the 3 shots you posted one was 1/250, the same as the original photo and one was faster at 1/400, just the mammal was slower at 1/25 so, to be fair, only one of the shots plainly shows the use of slow shutter speed

If you accept that f4 1/250 and ISO 2000 was the lighting conditions then to get the ISO to 400 he's going to have to find 2 & 1/3 stops of light from somewhere. He can't find it from aperture as F4 is the widest so needs to find it from the shutter speed which would take it down to about 1/40th sec, which, OK, is is possible on a tripod with completely still subject, on a small bird is very much hit and hope as they tend to flit all the time, especially the tits, finches & common garden birds, a slower shutter speed will increase the chances of movement blur.

I guess it depends on how much you want the shot and whether you want to increase your chances of getting a keeper.

[markgozz]

A quick update on my garden project .

Thanks to all the advice you have given I'm one step closer to getting some decent images ,

f/11
1/250
ISO 400
and tripod mounted .




I think I had better start to think more about the composition and background to help enhance the images , any help in these matters and continued help with settings are always welcome .

Thanks in advance Mark

[OldBoy]

Try it at F4, as this will blur the background more. Still it's a cracking shot with great detail and colours.

[markgozz]

Thanks for your comments OldBoy , the reason I was using f/11 was because I had problems with a narrow DOF at larger f stops like my original shot at f/4 and after taking advice from this post I tried a smaller aperture to get more of the bird in focus . I will try bringing it down to f/8 and recomposing to move the subject further away from the background to see if I can get a better balance , I downloaded an app to calculate DOF and got these measurements .

105mm lens , f/4 , 1000mm subject distance = DOF approx 14mm

105mm lens , f/11 , 1000mm subject distance = DOF approx 40mm

Thanks again for your suggestions and kind words .

Mark

[Markulous]

Yeah, I think f/8 should give you enough DOF yet max the OOF background (but worth trying at various apertures so you know for the future - and ISO200!) - but you'll find it won't really be enough. I'd think along the lines of providing some shade for the BG, doesn't need to be deep gloom or anything but just enough to mute the bright reflections. And yes, moving the subject away from BG (by which I guess you mean the branch!) would work best of all!

[markgozz]

Thanks for the tips Mark

Mark