*Deep breath* Here I go!

[Tiradia]

That’s the 75-300 lens I have. Came as a bundle when I purchased my original body, thankfully this tax season=my money going to better lenses. Until then I have access too my partners glass. So it works out. And it is doubly effective because I can purchase lenses we don’t have and just add to the collection! I am actually getting ready to go out to the beach here in a few minutes and see if I can get a sharper picture, those heron pictures are sadly almost a year old! I was very hesitant about posting my work to a forum like this! But gosh darn I am glad I did! You all are very welcoming :). And most of all! Very understanding and I am very appreciative; you have taken the time to answer questions and provide me with answers 😀

[cameraclicker]

When I see heron photos, I tend to compare them to something like this:  http://www.pbase.com/ronnie_14187/image/95653593.   Sadly, my own photos, however, usually look more like this:

Mid February of 2009, we arrived at Luen Yick San Tsuen pretty late in the day.  A woman was at the dock waiting for her daughter to arrive.  My brother in law talked her into taking us out to her home which was part of the fish farm in Tolo Harbour.  These photos were taken from her boat using a Canon 30D and Sigma 18-200mm lens.  When she dropped us back at the dock, her daughter was waiting for her.

But, we had a great sunset!

[Bill]

Hey Tiradia, how are you shooting the bird? or most of your photos?  The EXIF is not listed on your Flickr page.

If you are shooting in RAW, not sure if you know, but RAW does not impose sharpness on the images as if it were shot in jpeg.  To get the images sharper when shooting RAW, you have to add the sharpness in later in ACR or what ever application you are using for post.  The same thing applies to color temp.

Would like to know what your settings were for these and what format too.  Or maybe I missed them….

[Tiradia]

I think I have the exif data. >_< haha, just need to remember what hard drive they were stored on. I know I shot raw+jpeg. Was shooting in manual at the time. I did have a 75-300mm on as well as some of the birds I was shooting were a ways away. This heron didn’t mind me getting close, but couldn’t get to close. Didn’t want to risk him flying away so I didn’t switch lenses. @CC those are really gorgeous shots. I wish I had a chance to go back overseas. Mainly to Okinawa. They have some very gorgeous scenery. *edit* also! If I cannot find them I blame Facebook for stripping my exif data, I was always critical of my work and worried what others thought. But ya know what! It really wasn’t that bad. It is nice to have critics as it only makes you better *isn’t always the case for some faux’s who never learn* I just hope I don’t fall in that catergory haha!

[Tiradia]

Sorry if that seemed incoherent. I blame the dilaudid. Passing kidney stones right now at the ripe ole age of 28 🙁

[cameraclicker]

Thanks, Tiradia, I’m still striving for better photos.  I hope you are feeling better soon.

[nesgran]

the 70-200 f4 is one of the true bargains in the canon range and would be a very worthwhile investment for both bigger birds like herons and for portraits. On 1.6x crop it is a little awkward focal length for portraits until you get used to it but it is certainly sharp enough, I would go for the stabilised version though. The f2.8 version is a bit unwieldy on a rebel body, it works fine if you went for a 40/50/7/5/1D body though. The 1Ds mark II is now going for similar money used as a new crop body but will blow the rebel out of the water unless you need more than iso 1600.

Something that will help your birds pop a bit more is to use a speedlight with a better beamer on to light it up a little.

[Tiradia]

Yea, wishing I hadn’t jumped the gun and got the 60D, it isn’t a bad camera, much better then the T3 I was using at first heh. I actually just ordered a speedlite the other day! Cannot wait to put it through its paces.

[Bill]

Lucky lucky, I just happen to have a 70-200 f/4 IS that I don’t use and it is in perfect shape if your are interested.

[Tiradia]

@Bill, how much for? :O I am indeed interested. I can give ya my skype handle if you’d like?

[Bill]

sure, you can send me an email on my flickr page which can be found by clicking my profile. Not even sure what they are going for currently.
I will give you some pics of it and further descriptions if needed, it is in mint condition, but I am sure you’ll want to see it anyway. We’ll chat on there instead of taking up forum space here.
No obligations, if you decide not to want it, I won’t be upset in any way.

[Author]

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