DPReview.com is closing April 10th - Find out more

BIF: why these shots are so bad ?

Started 1 month ago | Questions thread
Distinctly Average Senior Member • Posts: 2,527
Re: BIF: why these shots are so bad ?
17

A lot of this has to do with lighting. Evaluative metering sees the whole scene and is trying to meter accordingly and not for the bird. Black or white birds are notoriously hard and require good lighting to get the best out of the shot. While it was a bright day, that probably made it worse contrast wise. I often shoot swift for instance and overcast or when the sun is low are by far the best conditions. My local spot I position myself with both wind and sun behind me and only shoot black coloured birds when the lighting is right. That means as the sun is dropping or rising. The wind direction means more chance of getting the bird straight on instead of a birds butt. Also in that kind of light the contrast brings out the detail and makes the subject look much sharper.

Just to add, some of this is guesswork based on my experience.  I am looking at your images on my phone but have forgotten my glasses so it is hard for me to see everything as well as I should

Post (hide subjects) Posted by
Keyboard shortcuts:
FForum PPrevious NNext WNext unread UUpvote SSubscribe RReply QQuote BBookmark MMy threads
Color scheme? Blue / Yellow