More Ducks. Could some advice, Please

Hello All,
Some of you may have seen this first picture I posted last week on a duck pond I like to go to. It has been a real challenge getting close enough to even try to take some close-up shots

http://gallery.photographyreview.com...m/DuckPond.jpg

This weekend I was successful getting with in 5 feet of the bank by crawling 100 yards on my belly and hiding behind a small bush.
I probably took 70 shots before a hiker came by and cleared the pond. I was still very happy I had about 30 minutes un-noticed.

When I got home and downloaded the images I was very disappointed at the quality of my shots.
I could really use your advice on how to improve my shooting and or camera setup. I’ll list the camera setting below the pictures

Here are a few of the better ones.

http://gallery.photographyreview.com.../Teal_Pair.jpg

http://gallery.photographyreview.com...Group_of_3.jpg

http://gallery.photographyreview.com...n_BluePond.jpg

http://gallery.photographyreview.com...Blue_Pond2.jpg

http://gallery.photographyreview.com..._Pintail_2.jpg

http://gallery.photographyreview.com..._in_Flight.jpg

http://gallery.photographyreview.com...ne_Pintail.jpg

http://gallery.photographyreview.com...sin_flight.jpg

Shooting position: laying on belly supporting the camera with elbows. Sun is over my right shoulder.
Camera Setting: RAW, vivid, WBauto-800, AP f5.6-9, SS 1/400-1/2000
Lens: 70-300mm VR on. Plus 1.4X tele. All shots taken at 300mm, manual focus

Again any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for looking.

Well, I'm no "pro", but hopefully I can be some help to you. :)

Those are quite nice shots, I especially like the last one.

From the information you've provided, I already see several little settings which could make a sizable impact on the photo quality.

#1. The Nikon 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 VR lens is known for softness at 200mm-300mm. Which means to try to stay in the 70-200mm range as much as possible. But, by "stopping" the lens aperture down to around F8-11 should improve things greatly throughout the entire range.

#2. Don't use a TC unless absolutely necessary. TC's generally perform poorly with the 70-300mm/75-300mm class of "consumer zooms", better optimized for fixed-focal length "primes". Instead, crop to the desired size, and remember get as close as possible to the birds, which some tips are coming up.

#3. "Vivid" camera setting. Correcting contrast/saturation in post-processing is best in my opinion.

#4. Lastly, if you can take a tripod, monopod, or beanbag, by all means do so. It will provide a better, more stable support.

Also, photo quality partly depends on light quality. Try going out in either of the day's two "magic hours" – just after sunrise and just before sunset. Lighting is simply awesome at those times, but you will need to act fast as it unfortunately doesn't last long.

To get close to birds, try and move in slow, smooth steps. Crouching down might help at times, but I prefer to stay mostly straight up or slightly bent over. Think: Predators crouch and sneak up on birds, non-predators don't. If birds see movement crouching through the reeds they can only assume "predator" and get spooked. Before starting the approach, analyze the habitat beforehand for objects/bushes/trees which can provide additional cover and openings for which to shoot through. There isn't anything more frustrating than tediously making your way up close to the duck/s only to find that there was a big patch of thick scrub blocking the way around a corner. :mad2: :cryin: :(

When approaching the ducks, precisely time your steps with the bird's head movements. Most birds are always alert, glancing this way and that, when it glances away for an instant, spring into action and take a quick step forward coming to a halt a split-second before the bird's head flips around again. Done properly, I have gotten very close to many types of birds; woodpeckers, creepers, eagles, hawks, backyard-regulars, pintails, etc.. Here's an uncropped shot, recently (posted other of the day's images in N&W). It was taken handheld with my *ist D + 300mm F4 MF-only lens. That is a 35mm equivalent focal length of 450mm, so I was pretty close.

EXIF's should still be intact, click on photo and scroll down to view.
Attachment 64626
Had to do some serious blown-out-highlight restoration work, it was so bad I almost trashed the image out in the field... :eek:

Note that post-processing skills often also play a major role in creating good pictures... many of my 100% original ones look, well, awful. :blush2:

Hopefully Ron Kruger will take a look at this thread, I'm sure he knows more about getting close to wildlife than I do... after all he uses a 200mm lens...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by A.M.D.A.

#3. "Vivid" camera setting. Correcting contrast/saturation in post-processing is best in my opinion.

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Actually, "vivid" camera setting will do nothing, when shooting in RAW. :D

I really like the first lone pintail shot.

I would use a lower ISO and shot for non flight images in the 1/200th range myself.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mn shutterbug

I really like the first lone pintail shot.

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X2 you can see that awesome double sprig. Mature bird IMHO

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Singletracklovr

Shooting position: laying on belly supporting the camera with elbows. Sun is over my right shoulder.
Camera Setting: RAW, vivid, WBauto-800, AP f5.6-9, SS 1/400-1/2000
Lens: 70-300mm VR on. Plus 1.4X tele. All shots taken at 300mm, manual focus

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A couple things:

1) drop your ISO down to 200 (400 at the highest) in conditions like these
2) don't use a teleconverter with this lens
3) always stop down at least 1 full stop from wide open with this lens. Two stops if you can get away with it. So at the 300mm end, no faster than f/8.

These three little steps should dramatically improve the IQ of your shots. Shooting in the prone position with a VR lens should be stable enough. Even at ISO 400 and f/8 in lighting conditions like these, you'll be able to get 1/750 to 1/1000s - plenty fast enough for medium sized birds in flight.

I can't thank you guys enough for all the assistance. You've given me new hope.
No teleconverter?... Oh man!
I can't wait to crawl back to this place with some new camera settings, and shooting techniques.

Also, a little PP can help quite a bit. I have limited talent, but I believe I did improve it a bit.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mn shutterbug

Also, a little PP can help quite a bit. I have limited talent, but I believe I did improve it a bit.

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Hi Mike,
Would you mind listing the things you did in your PP?
thanks for the photo tweak...

I use Photoshop Elements, but this works the same with Photoshop. I went into "shadows and highlights" and opened the shadows about 10% and then increased the mid tone contrast, just a little. I left the levels alone. I then went into "unsharp mask" and sharpened at 20,10 and 0. I then did it a second time. And, that's it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mn shutterbug

I use Photoshop Elements, but this works the same with Photoshop. I went into "shadows and highlights" and opened the shadows about 10% and then increased the mid tone contrast, just a little. I left the levels alone. I then went into "unsharp mask" and sharpened at 20,10 and 0. I then did it a second time. And, that's it.

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Thanks Mike,
I use PS7, I know old stuff, I just can't keep sending Adobe 350buck every year or two. I don't have shadows and highlights. I do have unsharp mask.

GIMP!!!

I am a big fan of GIMP. Yes, it does have shadows/highlights, curves, auto-fixes, advanced crop tool... best part is that it costs $0.00! Plus, there are hundreds of all sorts of plugins available for separate download as well (i.e. borders, auto hot-pixel fixer, noise-reduction, etc.).

Here is a link to where plugins can be accessed: http://registry.gimp.org/

I myself use the new GIMP 2.6 and a bunch of plugins on Linux OS. If you have any questions either post in the post-processing forum here at PR, or feel free to send me a PM/email. :)

Hi Bob

I basically have the same equipment as you D80 with a 70-300 mm VR and do use a 1.4 kenko Tc at times when lighting conditions are at their best but i think your better without it . A Tc is best used with primes 1.4x works wonders with a 300mm Nikon F4.last fall i bought a used 170-500mm Sigma for a song of Ebay it's given me more range with better quality images, it was replaced with a 150-500mm VR version which i tried in store but have not decided if its worth the cash lol

Oh and BTW good captures :)