A frustating morning at Eagleby

[wigz]

Spent some time at Eagleby Wetlands this morning and saw many bird species but they mostly stayed inside the foliage or didn't stay still, so I didn't get any good shots.

1. Grey Fantail. This is probably the best shot of the day.


2. White-bellied Sea-eagle.
I saw this coming when I had the camera set up for birds in the shade. I quickly changed settings but then fumbled the focus button and didn't get any shots until it had the sun behind it. I've brightened it a lot here.


3. Pelican. This is the only lake with water and it has a high bank so unable to get low, and the sun is not at a good angle.

4. Scarlet Honeyeater. It just didn't come into the open.



5. Red-browed Finch

[Isac]

Great work as usual Alan. PP can be your friend when controlling the light in #2. I love the scarlet colour in #4 - very striking and not a good colour for camouflage, but that's nature for you. Sometimes mother nature isn't perfect or kind to photographers with lighting situations but you did very well anyway.

[wigz]

Thanks Isac but most of these really aren’t very good.

[Isac]

I think you are being a bit hard on yourself Alan by saying they aren't very good. I think they are good shots, considering the environment in which they were taken. We all strive for perfection but we also know that is rarely achieved - especially in outdoor nature photography. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

[David_MC]

Nice shots. Really like the one of the Pelican and the one of the Honeyeater interacting with it's environment.

[wigz]

Thanks David

[AlfandBen]

I agree with Isac and David. They are as usual sharp, detailed and colourful shots. The honeyeater in it's environment really works for me.

[MJ224]

They all look pretty good to me. I agree, the 1st is supa dupa...:-)

[wigz]

Thanks AlfandBen, MJ224 and Isac for your comments but the small size here hides the faults, and you are being too generous in your comments.

I really posted them to illustrate a less then rewarding morning with the camera.

Here are a couple of full size crops.

1. Underexposed a bit too much to get a clean image. I should try the AI noise reduction on this.



2. Not a bad shot but detail is not the best and poor background separation


The pelican is just a pelican doing nothing interesting. Not a bad image but a bit boring.

The finch has shadows across its head..

[Isac]

Thanks for that Alan. Does your camera have presets which you can just select? Great for the exact scenario that you found yourself in. You have one more sea eagle photo than me. I agree some photos need too much time spent on PP to get then anywhere near where you want them thus making it a non worthy project. With my APS-C cheapie I have a BIF setting on the mode dial for quick selecting.

[wigz]

It does have presets but they are selected from a menu option rather than a dial. I don’t think it can be assigned to a button. I do use the feature but it does have some limitations.

It’s not usually a problem as I have three buttons set to focus, one each as single point, group and 3d tracking, and only shutter speed needs to be changed by a spin of the wheel.

I have several shots of sea eagles but still waiting for a decent one.

[Isac]

Sometimes technological improvements aren't. One thing about my cheapie 7Dii is the dial for my 3 custom settings:
1. BIF, with tracking focus and 10 FPS continuous shooting.I have this set to the last dial position so I don't even have to look to find it.
2. Bracket 5 shots 2 stops apart
3. Basic Manual Settings. If I stuff up the settings in Manual Mode, I just hit the C1 on the dial and I have it back to a usable setting with Auto ISO.
I think I'd prefer the old style dial for a more quicker and simple operation, rather than have to poke about in a menu system. By the time I found the settings in the menu, the bird would be on it's way and long gone