Editing With Phoblographer - Songbirds

in #photography7 years ago (edited)

Feathered Friends:

I initially intended this post to cover the techniques involved in photographing songbirds. Instead I'd like to take the opportunity to exhibit a few instances of my bird photography. I've also put together a video that I'll embed in this article. In it, I talk through how I went about editing one of these images, step by step.

Robin. Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm C @ f/5.6, 340mm, 1/640 sec, ISO 800

Having a competent and consistent editing technique can ensure that you get the most out of your images. I find that this is especially important with wildlife photography. Photographing small, fast moving subjects, in changing lighting conditions, can often push the technical limitations of your camera. In these instances, a good editing technique can help you to preserve images that may otherwise be lost to under/overexposure or excessive noise.

Female Chaffinch. Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm C @ f/6.3, 390mm, 1/400 sec, ISO 800

Male Chaffinch. Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm C @ f/6.3, 500mm, 1/400 sec, ISO 800

Photographing wildlife can really be very rewarding. Recent psychological studies have even shown that getting out into nature and birdwatching can be beneficial for your mental health. Small songbirds can make for especially interesting subjects as they are extremely active throughout the course of their day. This makes them perfect, small and erratic targets with which to hone your shooting skills.

Great Tit. Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm C @ f/7.1, 500mm, 1/640 sec, ISO 1250

Blue Tit. Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm C @ f/7.1, 500mm, 1/800 sec, ISO 800

Male Redstart. Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm C @ f/7.1, 500mm, 1/1250 sec, ISO 1600

Female Redstart. Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm C @ f/7.1, 500mm, 1/1000 sec, ISO 1600

Wren. Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm C @ f/7.1, 500mm, 1/400 sec, ISO 1000

Embedded below is a video that I made talking through how I edited the male chaffinch photo. It's not a tutorial as such, but rather an image editing walk-through. I hope you find the information in the video useful, let me know in the comments if you'd be interested in similar content in the future.

Chaffinch Lightroom Edit from Alex White on Vimeo.

If you've found this article useful then please upvote & follow me for similar content in the future. Also please consider resteeming this blog if you believe it deserves to be shared with the wider community. Cheers everybody : )

All images present in this article are © Alexander White

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Thanks for sharing your beautiful pictures and letting us watch as you edit one of them. I love wildlife photography but am still new in the field. I'd love to get a longer lens and be able to get closer to little birds like the ones in your photos.

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed the photos and the video. A long lens helps a lot, though some birds are more docile than others. Robins for instance, sometimes allow you to get within a few feet of them before flying off. If you have a garden, then placing bird feeders can also provide you with an opportunity to get some decent shots.

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nice pic dude

Very nice my friend

You are welcome

wonderful photos! upped

beautiful little creatures. Great photography:) Thanks for sharing!

You get my 100% vote. This is pure gold. Thanks for the video tutorial. Cheers!!!!!

Thank you, I'm grateful for your vote and I'm glad that you found the video useful.

Upvoted & followed. :)

Thank you. I'm something of an avid chess player myself, I look forward to seeing more of your chess problems.

Great pics! Especially the blurred background. Getting the bird in focus with telephoto. Nice.

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed the photos.

Beautiful little birds!

I wish I had the patience to photograph songbirds - they are an elusive target, and never seem to stop moving!

They can be difficult to photograph, but it's fun to see all of the different species out there. I'm glad you liked the pictures.

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