Lowry Park zoo (5 imgs) sd630

[StreetRacingOnline]

Sorry this is my first attempt at wildlife, also i was using my point and shoot (canon sd630, i hate the noise it gives but it does the trick for snapshots). My 30d should be here tomorrow and i will try again. But how is my composition?

Its crazy how human like these guys are
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j311/fabnewb/zoo/zoo_5136copy.jpg

I saw this little guy catch a mouse, but my camera could not increase shutterspeed to catch the action
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j311/fabnewb/zoo/zoo_5091copy.jpg


How do i keep from blowing the highlights on this bird? Should i have tried spot metering?
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j311/fabnewb/zoo/zoo_5103copy.jpg


I just like this picture alot, i just wish i could have caught more detail
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j311/fabnewb/zoo/zoo_5120copy.jpg

He was begging!!!! :)


http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j311/fabnewb/zoo/zoo_5129copy.jpg

Feel free to be as constructive as possible, if they suck let me know and how i can get better shots.

[jdk]

Good shots!




How do i keep from blowing the highlights on this bird? Should i have tried spot metering?
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j311/fabnewb/zoo/zoo_5103copy.jpg



A better method would be to use exposure and flash adjustment. If you know your subject is going to easily blow out compared to your background you can dial in negative exposure compensation beforehand.

Here is an exposure compensation article, it's for Nikon shooters but the same basic principles apply.

http://www.cs.mtu.edu/~shene/DigiCam/User-Guide/995/EXPOSURE/EV-compensation.html

Did you brighten this shot up in Photoshop or use high ISO? It looks pretty grainy.. If the later you could of bumped the ISO down quite a lot judging from the exposure you got..

[StreetRacingOnline]

high iso 800 to stop action, since my camera does not have IS or any manual shutter speed options.

this was zoomed all the way 3x lol, and hand held. 1/20 is that my camera said. oh btw the graininess is after noise ninja, you should see the original.


thanks for the feedback!

[jdk]

high iso 800 to stop action, since my camera does not have IS or any manual shutter speed options.

this was zoomed all the way 3x lol, and hand held. 1/20 is that my camera said. oh btw the graininess is after noise ninja, you should see the original.


That's what you get for trusting your cameras meter.. It was metering for the dark background, so it blew your subject out.. At that shutter speed you could of used half the ISO you did.. Plus it looks like the bird is just sitting there.. You don't need a very fast shutter speed to capture that..

I didn't realize your camera didn't have any manual shutter speed options.. That makes it a little harder to get what you want.

[StreetRacingOnline]

yea P&S ftl.... but 30d will be here sooon :)

[marksaccord95]

if your quick enough, you can change your focus points to the bird and it will meter and focus him. you could just set a center focus point and shoot each pic like that head on.

in the bright sun, running that much iso isnt going to make the camera any faster. thats probably why the highlights are blown some, your light meter was probably just maxed out at that high ISO.

[StreetRacingOnline]

can't adjust focus points either. :(

[NikkiXoXo]

nice work ! ;-)

[StreetRacingOnline]

thanks!