Camera Labs

I was struggling to get a proper exposure of this bird and it was quite far away.
can any one advise me what should I have done better



Camera Model Canon EOS 500D
Shooting Mode Shutter-Priority AE
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/60
Av( Aperture Value ) 11.0
Metering Mode Evaluative Metering
Exposure Compensation -1/3
ISO Speed 100
Lens EF70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
Focal Length 300.0 mm
White Balance Mode Shade
AF Mode AI Servo AF
Picture Style Standard


Shooting Mode Shutter-Priority AE
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/125
Av( Aperture Value ) 4.5
Metering Mode Evaluative Metering
Lens EF70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
Focal Length 95.0 mm
AF Mode AI Servo AF
Picture Style Standard



Shooting Mode Shutter-Priority AE
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/50
Metering Mode Evaluative Metering
Focal Length 300.0 mm
AF Mode AI Servo AF


Please advise on the techniques so that i can watch out next time.

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Nikon N80
Quantaray 28-90mm F3.5-5.6 Macro lens (F2.8-4)
and
Canon EOS500D
IS USM 70-300mm + Kit lens

A couple of things to try...

1) use a fill flash and a flash extender it the distance is more then 8 meters or so

2) if the subject is standing/sitting still try using a focus point which has average light for the image you are taking and which is roughly the same istance as the main subjuct... this can be hard to accomplish but it does help if you have the time.

3) switch away from single point or center focus... this is hit and miss at best when talking about wildlife photography

4) Post processing will help balance out a lot.

your shutter speeds are also very slow for wildlife photography... especially action shots. Try upping your ISO and dont be afraid to go to 1600 or more if needed on cloudy days.

lastly learn an animals threat zone and try to position yourself or make your approach in/from a direction where the light is most favorable. This is tough when shooting wildlife but should always be one of your first considerations whenever possible.

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Canon 7D + 50D + EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM + EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM + EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
Pelican // Black Rapid // Think Tank // Manfrotto // Garmin

Reflections On Canadian Wildlife
My Flickr

good to know the tricks
i reduced shutter speed because the image bird in 1 and 3 was not moving around. also i tried increasing the shutter speed but it was not giving birds proper feather colour with a bright background. But i not tried to increase ISO (Infact i forget about it).

Cheers
Aa

_________________
Nikon N80
Quantaray 28-90mm F3.5-5.6 Macro lens (F2.8-4)
and
Canon EOS500D
IS USM 70-300mm + Kit lens

use a bigger iso to get the faster shutter speed, wide aperture to blur the background (also allows faster shutter) use spot metering so the bird is exposed properly, matrix metering will try to get the whole scene in focus but if you have a really bright background it can mess up,

also shoot in raw so you can do a lot of editing later if needed

for panning shots, low shutter speed and use continuous shooting so you at least get one shot in focus

if shooting against bright background, it often helps to increase exposure a bit.

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Canon Powershot S95, Canon 7D, 15-85, Canon 85 1.8 USM, Sigma 30 1.4, 50mm 1.8, Canon 100 2.8L IS Macro, Canon 70-300L IS USM+Kenko 1.4 Pro 300DGX, Canon 430EX II and RS 4 Classic