I've learned a couple of hard lessons about getting sharp photos that I'll share... I recently had some great opportunities to shoot a Cedar Waxwing flock feeding in some low bushes. Unfortunately, I had my ISO set wrong. On my Nikon D60 I can set the ISO at a fixed value or program it to optimize within a range of values (I'd guess that all dSLRs can do this). I made a change that I thought was temporary and would revert to my preferred settings when the camera powered off and on, because that happens with exposure compensation settings. I was wrong. So I shot birds at ISO 800 when there was enough light to shoot at ISO 200. Sharpness sacrificed. A second issue for me is autofocus. The D60 is not the most sophisticated, and it reverts to a 'closest subject' setting whenever I change batteries (or for other unknown reasons). When a bird is perched among sticks, the camera may focus on a stick in the foreground instead of the bird's eye. Due to my declining vision I sometimes don't notice that the focus is slightly off. A third but related problem I've dealt with lately is that I wear progressive lens glasses. Sitting at the computer doing post-processing is tricky because a slight tilt of my head changes whether a shot seems to be in focus or not. I think I need a pair of fixed-focus computer glasses, and to avoid the progressives when working with photos. But I'm too cheap to spend the money. Fourth, also related, is that the viewfinder on my camera has a diopter adjustment (again, probably all do) but I hadn't checked it since the first day I got the camera, almost 3 years ago. Stupid. It was two stops off. So all my attempts at manual focus were in vain. I don't know if the diopter slide got bumped, or if my eyes changed that much, but either way it was creating chronic problems. When it all comes together, I can be pretty happy with the results. But I think I need to tape a checklist to the back of the camera and go through it before every session... By the way, since Jay mentioned GIMP, and Larry mentioned Aperture, perhaps a discussion of photo editing software would be good. I have played with GIMP on the Mac, but not invested the time to learn to really use it (but there are lots of lessons on YouTube). I simply use Nikon's free program ViewNX2. Nikon Capture is more sophisticated, like others mentioned, but as I said, I'm CHEAP. If I can't make a photo look good enough to share using VIEWNX2, I consider the photo a loss and throw it away. Maybe some day I'll take the time to learn some more fancy edits, but so far I'm more concerned with mastering the camera and my low-quality eyes! -Frank Oh, P.S. photo attached was post-processed only in VIEW NX2, except for the signature (which VIEW doesn't do). ________________________________ From: Larry Pace <larrypace64@xxxxxxxxx> To: "missbirdphotos@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <missbirdphotos@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Wednesday, March 7, 2012 6:48 PM Subject: [missbirdphotos] intro Hi guys This Mid-Delta (Cleveland and surrounds)photographer needs some really good advice on bird photography. I thought that I was progressing fairly well over the last couple of years, but looking at really good bird photos on several online galleries (Ronnie Gaubert, now deceased, from Prairieville, La being one) quickly proved that to be WRONG. I shoot with a Canon 50D and a Canon 100-400 zoom . The biggest problem I have is sharpness and the shots never seem to have that punch I see in other photos. From all the experience that you all have had, I need suggestions. What works for you? I am looking forward to sharing photos and info about places to photograph, etc. with everyone. Help me with this photo--advice anyone. Larry Pace
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