White & Black Birds

[Moira]

Is someone willing to provide some advice on shooting predominantly white or black birds?

[JTF]

White Birds: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/allaboutbirds/bp/white_birds

[ravynne40]

i know with the white birds, to check your white balance..change it untill you don't get the "blow out" white. I have had this happen to me and i have had to change it several times depending on lighting (sun) and reflections(lake)
as for dark..i'm still working on it, my black birds come out aweful!

[Kin Lau]

For birds like Buffleheads, Goldeneyes and Long-tailed Ducks, avoid shooting at mid-day if it's sunny, a cloudy day works very nicely for not blowing out the whites.

Earlier or later in the day with the sun coming in over your shoulder is good for getting that iridescence of the Buffleheads and Goldeneyes.

Shoot in RAW mode, not JPEG. I usually shoot in manual exposure, metering off some rocks or dirt, and check the histogram to make sure I'm not blowing out the whites.

[Michael Tam]

In general, to get a proper exposure, unless you are a very experienced photographer, the Exposure Compensation button is needed whenever the metered shot appeared incorrect. The rule is: To keep white white, over-expose; while to keep black black, under-expose. It applies to everything, even in portraits. This is because the camera meter everything at 18% grey tone.

From what I remembered reading from Arther Morris' book, one can spot metered on the white or black subject to obtain a reading.  Then use the EC to ajust for the correct exposure.  He illustrurated a complex chart, even based on the brand of film in those days, for the compensation factor for varying tonal color of the bird.

To obtain the correct tonal exposure is not the same issue as the correct White Balance.  WB refers to the correct color temperature for the lighting in deg K.  The scale is counter intuitive, such that the warmer color shows a lower color temp while a cooler color shows a higher color temp.  To understand further as to when WB should be adjusted, please see:

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/whitebalance.htm

For an even more complex understanding of exposure latitude of digital photography, I found this article most illuminating based on Ansel Adams' (the greatest landscape photograher) work in tonal exposure:

http://www.outdoorphotographer.com/how- ... ystem.html

Hope this is helpful.
Good birding and photography.

[Moira]

Thanks so much ... I've got some reading to do.

[Michael Tam]

A correct exposure of a photograph is a complex matter, involving considerations of a multitude of parameters.  In this regard, the most advanced multi-segments meter in the market to handle difficult exposure situation is the all new Nikon D7000 with 2016 pixels RGB sensor.

The following article offers a comprehensive understanding of Exposures in a systematic manner:

http://www.outdoorphotographer.com/how- ... sures.html

Good birding and photography

[Michael Tam]

The single revolutionary change brought on by Digital Photography is the instantenous feedback through the LCD panel.  However, one must go beyond the "look just right" analysis by understanding the data from the composite Histogram or RGB channels display.  The following article can be very helpful to this regard:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutor ... rams.shtml

To the purists, the light meter in fact measures in 12% grey instead of what is commonly referred to as 18% grey card.  Irrespective to this technicality, one must remember to use the Exposure Compensation button to achieve the correct result of white as white and black as black.  Please see further detail below:

http://www.bythom.com/graycards.htm

Good birding and photography.

[Michael Tam]

To make the most use of your in-camera image review, one must have a more thorough understanding of the histogram thumbnail on your LCD screen.  

By "doing it right the first time" will save a lot of effort in front of your big monitor at home while laboring with Lightroom 3 or CS5 to correct any deficiencies in the original exposure.  

The following practical guide is very helpful to interpret the data from the RGB histogram thumbnail on the image review:

http://www.sphoto.com/techinfo/histogra ... ograms.htm

Good birding and photography.

[jackbreakfast]

Thank you for your continued posts, Michael, there's a lot of useful information here...

[Michael Tam]

The spirit of this forum is to share one's experience to better the art of photography.  I am humbled to hear that these postings have been helpful to expand our knowledge with every minute steps.

There is much to learn from others who share the same passion.  The offering of a link from the web speaks much greater than I could ever put in words.  

Good birding and photography  :oops: .

[Michael Tam]

In relation to the issue of the correct White Balance, one piece of equipment that has been much neglected is the lowly Gray Card.  It resolves the perpectual difficulties in finding a correct WB under a variety of color temperature light sources.

The following article  is very helpful in gaining a better understanding in the use of this humble piece of paper in one's photographic needs:

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Revi ... eview.aspx

Good birding and photography.

[Michael Tam]

The illusive search for the correct exposure often confound the bird photographers in the field.  The camera's complex Matrix Meter measures the reflectance off the subject whereas the portrait and studio photographers employ the sure-fire method with the Incident Meter that measures the amount of light falling onto the subject.

The following article described the use of Incident Meter in the field on bird photography that would be helpful to solve the black and white bird issue:

http://www.naturescapes.net/articles/te ... otography/

Good birding and photography.

[Michael Tam]

The modern matrix meter system is an extremely sophisticated piece of engineering marvel.  However, it is not fool-proofed under complex lighting condition.  Whenever the exposed image appears incorrect after reviewing the Luminous Histogram or the RGB Histogram, it then calls for the use of Exposure Compensation.

The following article described a jargon=free step by step method in the use of the Exposure Compensation parameter in order to arrive at a perfect or near-perfect exposure (when the inevitable labor of post-process is necessary):

http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2013/ ... -exposure/

Good birding and photography.