Birds Looking for advice - photographing birds in flight against an overcast sky

[AlphaWorld]

Using the 300 GM + 2x on the A9 III on a windy day with an overcast sky - plenty of birds out. I got some long bursts of black kites in flight, but the overcast sky turned the birds nearly black. Here's an example where I pushed the exposure a stop, and raised the shadows over half a stop to bring detail into the bird's feathers.

This is a 2000 x 1800 crop from the 6000 x 4000 frame.

The image was shot at base ISO, lens wide open (effective aperture f/5.6 because of the 2x), 1/2500.

I don't mind the result, but when it's overcast like this, should I use something like +1 Ec to get more detail on the bird? It's not like I'm worried about blowing out the sky!

Or is there something else I should be doing?

 

[Richard A]

I’m far from an expert at BIF (or anything else for that matter) but if it was me, I’d start by taking an exposure from the sky as it looks very even. I’d use zebras to get it just before it starts clipping. Hopefully that would minimise the under exposure of the birds. Just my thoughts…

 

[Alan Clark]

I assume you are shooting raw images.
With raw files you can improve the image in post processing. I use ON1, so I would try using the Dynamic Contrast tool or the Tone Enhancer (Detail) tool. Other software will have similar tools.

 

[Uncle Kevriano]

For birds in flight against any sky I will always have my compensation at +1.7 as a start. If it's a really dull sky I might drop it a bit, and if really bright, go higher. This does not always solve the issue though. Using spot metering is a good way of making sure the bird is what is being metered and not the whole scene. This also doesn't always work, it depends on the bird and it's colour.
As Alan says, lots can be done in post. I use Camera Raw and Photoshop CC. Camera raw will let you drop highlights, add contrast and dehaze, all reduce the levels across the scene, so you can mask the subject first, and then work on them individually. I never do btw, can't get my head around it
The beauty of these cameras is the dynamic range, it gives you a ;lot of leeway.

 

[AlphaWorld]

Thank you both. I'll go looking for a tool like that (I'm mostly using Photoshop), and I shall try using zebras next time - probably next weekend - may be challenging with the birds moving erratically, but I'll try!

Here's a shot from a later burst - I think this one shows a lot more detail (possibly due to the angle). The shooting parameters were the same, and this is also a 100% crop.

 

[Richard A]

I think Zebras are a brilliant tool. A big reason I moved to Sony! Although I was using them on my RX100 for quite a while.

Software is certainly brilliant these days but if you get the histogram over to the right without clipping it will give you maximum dynamic range & maximum info for the software to use. That shot looks pretty good to me. Maybe you could increase the contrast of the bird a bit but that’s personal taste really.

All this is easier said than done of course with a subject like this.

 

[Angus Cameron]

Mr Galer, recommends a custom Zebra setting of 109. I found that helpful.

 

[Richard A]

Yes, Lower Limit 109+ is correct for stills RAW files.

 

[iain clyne]

Like uncle Kev I start with +1.3-1.7 and work from there.

 

[Uncle Kevriano]

Mr Galer, recommends a custom Zebra setting of 109. I found that helpful.

Agggggggh. You are fined one demerit for swearing