Australian Birds

[caskur]

A male and female Western Rosella OR its a baby..  The population has more than doubled since last summer.

[Anonymous]

What a beautiful parakeet type bird.

[Bricktop]

I have just done a quick edit to show you how you can sharpen your image with the latest software designed for the purpose, and which is being used by most bird photographers. Shooting birds needs a long lens, and these tend to soften images. New AI capable applications can de-blur your images by a significant factor and rescue soft and out of focus images.



https://imgur.com/a/mf9DjiM">https://imgur.com/a/mf9DjiM

[Anonymous]

Oh my goodness Bricktop, it looks prettier than they do in a pet shop.

[caskur]

I have just done a quick edit to show you how you can sharpen your image with the latest software designed for the purpose, and which is being used by most bird photographers. Shooting birds needs a long lens, and these tend to soften images. New AI capable applications can de-blur your images by a significant factor and rescue soft and out of focus images.



https://imgur.com/a/mf9DjiM">https://imgur.com/a/mf9DjiM

Yes, I am VERY unhappy with my zoom on my camera but I'm also recording the birds with 4K photo so I don't take thousands of shots... You know what birds are like, they rarely keep still. I didn't use my sharpness feature in the camera because noise pissed me off...I get serious noise when I have bad lighting.



This here was one that came closer to me... A little Splendid Fairy-wren. The Western Rosella is heaps more skittish and I cannot move in close. I shot from my car seat actually so they don't fly off. Now I have an updated version Paintshop Pro, I'll be able to shoot in RAW.

[Bricktop]

I doubt it is your camera that causes the softness. It is far more likely to be camera shake. Especially if you're shooting from a car, hand held. I have a Panasonic 100-400 zoom which is in effect 200-800 in full frame terms. Shooting from long distances with such a lens is VERY difficult, because the slightest movement translates to millimetres of movement over 100 metres. All that is required to induce camera shake is to press the shutter button. Tripod mounts with shutter release cables are essential for sharp images, but they are not always practical with fast moving birds. Hence the latest developments in image sharpening are becoming standard kit for bird photographers.

[Anonymous]

Such a cute little blue bird.

[caskur]

I doubt it is your camera that causes the softness. It is far more likely to be camera shake. Especially if you're shooting from a car, hand held. I have a Panasonic 100-400 zoom which is in effect 200-800 in full frame terms. Shooting from long distances with such a lens is VERY difficult, because the slightest movement translates to millimetres of movement over 100 metres. All that is required to induce camera shake is to press the shutter button. Tripod mounts with shutter release cables are essential for sharp images, but they are not always practical with fast moving birds. Hence the latest developments in image sharpening are becoming standard kit for bird photographers.

You're probably right... I'll have to do better...



check this out... the insect sunglasses. You couldn't get this if you tried...



https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=3376024772464979&set=gm.2742487756025049">https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=337 ... 7756025049">https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=3376024772464979&set=gm.2742487756025049

[Anonymous]

[caskur]

I doubt it is your camera that causes the softness. It is far more likely to be camera shake. Especially if you're shooting from a car, hand held. I have a Panasonic 100-400 zoom which is in effect 200-800 in full frame terms. Shooting from long distances with such a lens is VERY difficult, because the slightest movement translates to millimetres of movement over 100 metres. All that is required to induce camera shake is to press the shutter button. Tripod mounts with shutter release cables are essential for sharp images, but they are not always practical with fast moving birds. Hence the latest developments in image sharpening are becoming standard kit for bird photographers.

How about this one?

[Bricktop]

That is camera shake. I assume you were correctly focussed. Think about it as if shooting a rifle at the target. The target is 5 metres in front of you. Bang. Bullseye. Now the target is 100 metres in front of you and hitting the bullseye becomes problematic, simply because the slightest movement at your end (pulling the trigger) translates to millimetres out of line at the other. Shooting birds with a long lens is exactly the same, perhaps even harder as the target is moving. I've no doubt your camera is perfectly capable. It's just extremely difficult to hold it steady on subjects some distance away...even over 20 to 30 metres.



One way to reduce camera shake is to break free of Program mode and use either Shutter priority or manual. Then you need to set your shutter speed to a HIGHER value than the focal length of your lens. This faster speed reduces the time the shutter is open which in turn reduces the effects of shake.



So, if your Panny's focal length is 200, which translates to 400 in full frame terms, then your shutter speed must be higher then 1/400th of a second.



Bird and nature photographers aim to DOUBLE that to 1/800th of a second or faster.



Then of course, with very fast shutter speeds, you need to open up the aperture to allow more light to form the image. But if your camera's maximum aperture is 5.6 it won't open far enough for good exposure. So, to remedy that you need to increase the ISO to 1600 or more which increases noise.



Like I said, shooting birds and animals aint easy. You may remember I've mentioned in the past that you should move from Program mode. This is the only way yo sharpen your pictures.

[caskur]

Yeah I can't move from program mode because I have blurred vision.



This is the actual picture off the camera before I flipped it and saturated it. It's a good picture but not a great picture.

[caskur]

You have to wear head protection... The little claws HURT....lol



I wore a baseball cap and they always knock it off.



When it comes to food, they're vicious...lol

[caskur]

This is how you con birds... food. They simply cannot resist it.

[caskur]

Here is a scale of my birds. You can see how tiny the juvenile Western Rosella is.



I'm still stressing the other 5 weren't there and we noticed driving over the dam, a wedgie.



The Ringneck was sort of sheltering the youngster.