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I wandered over to the Botanic Gardens to learn to use my new 70-200VR.

This fellow was soaring around in the afternoon sun. It was difficult to get the detail of his black feathers. 1/300 @ F5.6


I then tried for some more context (it's a bit boring seeing black birds against a flat sky). The best approach seemed to be grabbing them as they flared for landing. 1/300 @ F4.5


I also went for some long panning shots and jagged this one which combines impressionistic pastel softness with razor-sharp water droplets.
This looks much better in high-res. Click the photo for the original (2.3MB). 1/40 @ F4.5.


Oh, I promised you something white! He looks a little yellow in the setting sun though. 1/640 @ F4


C&C welcome. I had a lot of trouble bringing out the detail in the black birds. Any hints?

in order to get more detail on the black birds I think you need the shoot in less harsh light, it helps if the sun is behind you also.
the sweetest shots seem to be taken in early morning or late afternoon when the sun is lower in the sky

often if the sky is bright, a flying bird will be under exposed, try using centre weighted metering in flying birds.

Fill flash helps also, you will notice a lot of bird photographers using flash extenders like better beamers.

the cockatoo shot has plenty of detail, not sure if the whites are fully white but close enough.

Steve

Russell,

The cockatoo is wonderful. Lovely detail in the feathers, especially below the beak, and around the eyes. Would have been a crownign glory to be able to have included the full comb.

Regarding the black birds, what metering mode were you using?

These are tricky subjects, as you're dealing with a large expanse of brightness - the sky - and a primary subject that's backlit.

That's difficult enough for starters, but your birds are black, and that adds a degree of complexity to the exposure calculations because your camera is going to want to compensate for the apparent darkness that the meter is seeing.

Given the constant sunshine we had today, I would have probably manually metered these images, taking a reading from some shaded grass area to grab an equivalent EV, and then used that as the basis for these shots.

And how are you enjoyng the new glass?

Russel,

The first two don't do anything for me, but boy, those last two are fantastic. I really love the take off shot of the duck - it's beautifully composed and captured. Being nit-picky, the cockatoo shot would be even better if you hadn't cut the comb, but I'd still be delighted if I had captured it as well as you have. Well done.

I too love the cockatoo shot, you have captured its character nicely.

Suzanne

Russel #3 and #4 are terrific. #3 has a wonderful sense of movement in a behavioural context. I would have liked to have had the shag flying into space a little more. #4 is a great portrait with great detail and eye contact.
cheers
marco

im very Intrigued by number two very abstract and interesting! Well Done!
~William

Thanks for the comments.

avkomp, I'll try some fill flash next time
Gary, I was using spot metering - I'll experiment with manual too

Russell

#3 and #4 for me too. I agree with you about how good #3 looks nice and big. Very painterly and a fantastic testament to your artistic skills that you controlled your panning just right to get this one Good to see you're enjoying that wonderful lens too.

thaddeus wrote:Thanks for the comments.

avkomp, I'll try some fill flash next time
Gary, I was using spot metering - I'll experiment with manual too

Russell,

Spot is what is needed here. The degree of compensation needed is the tough part.

Gary, can I pick your brains re EV compensation as you raised the topic? If I was spotting on the black bird, would an EV of -1.3 be correct?

Sorry to hijack your thread Russell. I'm sure there's plenty of others like me who can benefit from Gary's experience.