Birds Need Feedback - Multiple birds in flight

[Merlinator]

I would like to hear comments on the following pictures. Both contain two birds with one in focus and the other not so much. What are your feelings about the photos? Keepers or deletes?

• ILCE-1
• 600.0 mm
• ƒ/4
• 1/5000 sec
• ISO 1250

• ILCE-1
• 600.0 mm
• ƒ/4
• 1/5000 sec
• ISO 2000

 

[Alan Clark]

I would definitely keep them both!

 

[spudhead]

Hi I dont really feel qualified to help with the birds in flight question as at the moment I dont shoot birds in flight , but I think there are are plenty of people on here that can help having said that you probably need to provide more info on settings in camera ie focus settings metering modes etc any compensation dialed in etc , sorry I can not be more help Gary

 

[Hank]

The question I have is why are the SS and ISO so high? I'd have thought 1/1600 to 1/2000 would have been well fast enough and brought your ISO right down.

Can you shed some light on why you chose 1/5000?

 

[Hank]

The OP is asking what we think of the photos, nothing technical required, just if we like the photos.

Yeah fair enough.
Visually, I find them both confusing. The first one less than the second. Not being able to see the right wing of the lower bird is annoying, The OOF duck is well distracting.
I personally would keep them to look back on, but neither would hang on my wall.

I would genuinely still like to know why OP shoots so fast. I'm keen to learn from pros. ( I assume anyone swinging an A1+600 f4 is a pro)

 

[spudhead]

Yeah fair enough.
Visually, I find them both confusing. The first one less than the second. Not being able to see the right wing of the lower bird is annoying, The OOF duck is well distracting.
I personally would keep them to look back on, but neither would hang on my wall.

I would genuinely still like to know why OP shoots so fast. I'm keen to learn from pros. ( I assume anyone swinging an A1+600 f4 is a pro)

neither image is bad I prefer the second and would agree with Hank why the high shutter speed, and why not try for more depth of field I find primes are rarely super sharp at the fast end although at the price point of the 600 f4 it should be

 

[Uncle Kevriano]

I'd keep the first and lose the 2nd, I think the bird behind is too distracting.

 

[Merlinator]

I would definitely keep them both!

Thank you for commenting

 

[Merlinator]

The question I have is why are the SS and ISO so high? I'd have thought 1/1600 to 1/2000 would have been well fast enough and brought your ISO right down.

Can you shed some light on why you chose 1/5000?

The modern cameras can handle the higher ISO. Swallows are very shifty and I felt I needed the higher shutter speed. With birds in flight I prefer the highest speed I can get. The A1 shows hardly any noise at 1600 iso if exposed correctly. For the ducks I just left it at the same shutter speed. My usual set up is 3200/sec for Harrier sized subjects and faster for smaller birds.

 

[Merlinator]

The OP is asking what we think of the photos, nothing technical required, just if we like the photos.

Photo 1: Sitting here looking at it on my laptop it's difficult to tell at first there's anything OOF. The bird in the back is definitely sharper, but the bird in front isn't unpleasant. Had you not mentioned it I wouldn't have looked so hard and may never have noticed it. It's a fun photo and a good capture.

Photo 2: That's pretty cool. I don't think I've ever seen a dual shot like that with the birds so close together and the farther bird bokeh'd out. I like the composition but feel like the bokeh bird is distracting. My eye keeps going to it instead of the front bird, it wants them both in focus. Probably because they're so close to each other. It may have worked better if the more colorful bird were in front.

I wouldn't delete either. I'd be tempted to try photo 1 in print, photo 2 would stay on the hard drive.

Thanks for the comments. The reason I asked is that my style has changed over the years. Rather than always just the bird on a clean background I have begun to embrace foliage and other framing methods in my shots. I like the ducks because of the similar wing position. Just wanted to see how others perceived the shots.

 

[Merlinator]

Yeah fair enough.
Visually, I find them both confusing. The first one less than the second. Not being able to see the right wing of the lower bird is annoying, The OOF duck is well distracting.
I personally would keep them to look back on, but neither would hang on my wall.

I would genuinely still like to know why OP shoots so fast. I'm keen to learn from pros. ( I assume anyone swinging an A1+600 f4 is a pro)

Thanks for the comments. Shutter speed already addressed.

 

[Merlinator]

I'd keep the first and lose the 2nd, I think the bird behind is too distracting.

Thanks for commenting.

 

[Merlinator]

neither image is bad I prefer the second and would agree with Hank why the high shutter speed, and why not try for more depth of field I find primes are rarely super sharp at the fast end although at the price point of the 600 f4 it should be

The reason I have the 600 F4 lens is because it is F4. If I wasn't going to use F4 why would I or anyone else spend the money on it? Modern lenses are super sharp at F4. Your mileage may vary.

 

[Merlinator]

I'd keep the first and lose the 2nd, I think the bird behind is too distracting.

Thanks for the comments.

 

[spudhead]

The reason I have the 600 F4 lens is because it is F4. If I wasn't going to use F4 why would I or anyone else spend the money on it? Modern lenses are super sharp at F4. Your mileage may vary.

I was not suggesting it would be sharp at f4 and I will never get the chance to try one anyway, I have used and still use the sony 300 2.8 and other primes, I was just thinking depth of field would bring more of the shots into focus if that was your concern, I will bow out at that as I said before birds in flight are not my thing.