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Inspiring and Supporting Photographers of Australian Birds

Bar-shouldered Dove

Photographed by

Alison Bowling on Sat 27th Jul, 2019 and uploaded on Sun 28th Jul, 2019 .

Resolution

1400x898

Viewed

950

36162

Comment

Another attempt to obtain a sharp image. This was taken relatively early in the morning with the sun behind me. I lightened shadows on the bird a little, I also aimed to have a better composition than the previous submission.

Equipment

Camera: Olympus E-M10 Mk II
Lens : Olympus 75-300 mm1:4.8-6.7 II
Shutter speed 1/640
F7.1
ISO 320
Width prior to resizing: 2308

Location

Yuraygir National Park, Wooli., New South Wales

Keywords

adult

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Simon Pelling	2019-07-29 10:53:00	Hi Alison Congratulations on continuing to submit images for critique. I’m looking at this on a relatively small screen, but it seems to me that the eye and head are a little out of focus. I noted your conversation with Ian in a previous submission about trying to get the best focal point. Perhaps in this instance your focal point has been on the bird’s shoulder rather than on the head, as the shoulder feathers seem to be in focus. If you are still trying single point continuous AF, its worth remembering a couple of things. First, if you focus initially on the head, and then shift the frame to get the composition you want, the focus will also move as the point moves (which is the point of continuous AF after all!). So the traditional ‘point, focus and recompose’ technique won’t really work. Second, because you are using a long lens, the depth of field in the image is going to be quite shallow. If you focus on the shoulder, there may not be enough depth of field to get the head (which might be slightly behind the shoulder) also in sharp focus - so where you position the focus point will be critical. To get round the problem of the focal point shifting due to continuous autofocus as you compose, whilst still keeping focus on the point you want in focus, you will either need to (a) use the focal point selector to select a point (other than the central point in the viewfinder) that allows you to focus on what you want, while at the same time giving you the composition you want or (b) relying on the automated focus tracking system to stay on the point initially selected (in this case the head) as you reposition the camera to get the composition. I am not sure how good the Olympus focus tracking system is, but with my equipment its not that good - it won’t necessary stay on the head as you recompose the shot. Of course, the other option is to shoot as fast and accurately as you can and then use cropping to get your composition (which I confess is a common technique) although with a relatively static bird like this you may have time to compose in the viewfinder. As Ian says, no focal system is fool proof. Continuous AF will allow you to follow the bird as it moves about the environment, but you must keep the point on the bird (or the right area of the bird) all the time, which affects composition. Fixed or ‘single’ AF will lock on to the bird, allowing you to hold the focus while shifting to recompose the shot, but there is always a risk the bird (or the part of the bird you are interested in) moves out of focus. With a static bird like this dove, perhaps the single focus option might be better, but its a matter of what you are most comfortable with. In terms of composition, I think you would greatly improve the balance of the shot by cropping above the bird and on the right. This would position the bird more centrally (in terms of vertical position) and there would be a better balance between the bird and the banksia flower. Hope these comments are helpful. Best wishes Simon
Alison Bowling	2019-07-29 14:51:54	--Hi Simon, Thanks very much for your comments - they are very helpful. I have been a bit concerned about overdoing my submissions to the critique gallery - I will continue to submit here if that is OK, as I am finding the feedback invaluable, and I learn something new with every submission. Last weekend was the first time I have used continuous AF, and I have found it tricky. as the focus does not always stay on the bird. On looking back at the 3 sequential images I obtained of the dove, I realised that I processed the third in the sequence. The focus on the eye was better in the first of the three - I should have looked more closely at this image. It is interesting that the focus changed from the first to the third in the sequence. I also cropped the revised image as you suggested, and have obtained a much better image overall - one that I am quite pleased with. I initially positioned the dove in the bottom third of the accordance with rule of thirds which I am just learning about. Best wishes, Alison.
Mark Locker	2019-11-10 21:43:11	Keep up the effort Alison! Im not familiar with your camera, but will just mention that regardless of what brand or type of camera you use, finding the best settings and methods of getting good and consistent results isn't easy, but the fact you are trying, asking questions and experimenting shows that you are trying to take control of the camera, and in the long run, you will get better results for your effort!. Keep it up. I can attest to this personally after upgrading my camera after 5 years, my efforts this weekend didn't impress me at all :(
Alison Bowling	2019-11-13 13:34:58	--Hello Mark, Thanks for your encouragement. I am continuing to improve and I have found it very interesting to go back over my submissions to this gallery, and see how I have improved since my first submission. I upgraded my camera after only 5 months from an entry level OMD E10, to a Pro OMD E1, with some special features including Pro-capture, which I have yet to get used to. It does enable me to lock the focus much better, which is one of the difficulties I was having earlier. A Pro lens is next! I would have responded to your post earlier, but the fires here in NSW have been a distraction. Best wishes, Alison.

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	114/286 in Critique Gallery
	6/86 by Alison Bowling
	30/59 of Bar-shouldered Dove
	432/933 of Pigeons and Doves
	16330/34556 Overall
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