Baby falcons

[kelleyrie]

I have a nest of what I think are Merlin Falcons in my backyard and the babies are starting to pop their heads out so I got my tripod and my dad's 70-200L and started shooting. The problem is that I was having a really hard time getting the birds in focus.
Here's an example shot:

exif:
Camera Canon EOS 40D
Exposure 0.003 sec (1/400)
Aperture f/2.8
Focal Length 200 mm
ISO Speed 100
Now after comparing that photo and exif to this photo (another from the same day after many adjustments)
Untitled | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
I have an idea that the issue is mostly too large of an aperture. Am I on the right track here?

[karen_s]

What a treat to have a nest like that in the back yard. I'd go buy a telescope just to watch them everyday.

I took a look at the large image on Flickr and it appeared the most focused parts are the leaves just above the bird and a branch behind the nest. I could be wrong though 'cause I don't have my glasses on. Anyway, I think you might have just missed the focus. What focus mode were you using at the time? Single spot? Multiple spots? I have found single spot to work the best for most everything I shoot, especially wildlife. And I have found missed focus to happen more on far away fuzzy subjects than just about anything else. Lenses like nice sharp contrasty edges like well lit leaves as opposed to fuzzy little birds with soft edges.

A deeper depth of field might improve your chances too. I try to get up around 5.6 with that lens. It gives me a bit more wiggle room and tends to be a bit sharper than wide open.

[chicagojohn]

Originally Posted by karen_s

What a treat to have a nest like that in the back yard. I'd go buy a telescope just to watch them everyday.

I took a look at the large image on Flickr and it appeared the most focused parts are the leaves just above the bird and a branch behind the nest. I could be wrong though 'cause I don't have my glasses on. Anyway, I think you might have just missed the focus. What focus mode were you using at the time? Single spot? Multiple spots? I have found single spot to work the best for most everything I shoot, especially wildlife. And I have found missed focus to happen more on far away fuzzy subjects than just about anything else. Lenses like nice sharp contrasty edges like well lit leaves as opposed to fuzzy little birds with soft edges.

A deeper depth of field might improve your chances too. I try to get up around 5.6 with that lens. It gives me a bit more wiggle room and tends to be a bit sharper than wide open.

Yet another thing here worth considering is how exposure is being set. It would be perfectly legitimate, here, I think, to disregard the sky exposure altogether. Let it be totally blown out. Take your light reading on the reverse side of something dark. Because what you have here, though interesting, is toward the silhouette side.

You are shooting at a wide-open aperture here, and that is good. I don't think the focal issue may be related to depth of field due to the wide aperture, as much as it may be letting your camera autofocus.

From the lens equation, 1/f = 1/Do + 1/Ds (reciprocal of lens-to-object distance + reciprocal of lens-to-camera sensor distance must equal the reciprocal of lens focal length), it is clear that a major determinant of depth of field is the distance between the lens and the object. Aperture size is certainly a factor too, but the closer the lens to the subject, the narrower the depth of field for a given aperture, and vice-versa. You would have very large depth of field shooting a distant landscape at f/1.4, for example, or shooting the moon, even much larger still. And here, it seems the distance between the lens and the nest is large, so that isn't the problem.

I think the problem is your camera is trying to focus on the brighter portions of the image in autofocus. And what I would recommend is that you increase ISO to amply the sensor signal by a few stops to lighten up the subjects and let the sky be blown out, and then also manually focus to get the nest as sharp as possible.

PS, your aperture is fine. You need more light. Wait for a very cloudy day to minimize the brilliance of the sky. Obviously a flash or stobe would be problematic for this subject, so that's what you're left with.

[inkista]

Yup, too large of an aperture possibly, but also too low of an ISO. I'd bump it up to 800, that'll give you plenty of room to stop down, overexpose , AND handhold, rather than use a tripod.

If you're shooting @200mm, assuming you've got good handholding technique, the fastest you need to be at is 1/200s to mitigate camera shake blur. You can increase that if you think they're going to be moving fast enough to warrant it.

For focusing, I'd turn off the AF grid, and just use the center point. Because the chicks are in the shade, the AF system is going to have a little harder time latching onto them. If you are going to work on a tripod, I'd suggest possibly going manual focus, and using liveview and 10x magnification to nail focus.

I would also be careful about not getting too close to the nest. While it seems unlikely, given that you've been able to get a good series of shots, you really don't want to add to the parents' stress or scare them into abandoning the nest. You can always crop a shot.

[maksevrod]

So prety and little birds

[PWhite214]

I looked at the large size on flicker. Looks like you have Red-Shouldered Hawks in your yard. I have been watching a nesting pair for months.

Good Photo. Enjoy the opportunity, but don't get too close. The hawk will 'buzz' you.

Phil