starting 2014 off right

[the_hefay]

New year's day we had a bald eagle that was perched up in a tree near the house. He was unusually brave considering al the ruckas we were creating with snowmobiles and such. He wasn't in the best location while perched. Too many branches were in the way. So my niece and I walked out and around to get a different view and that's when he decided to fly. Fortunately I had just dumped the tripod because he started to look a little nervous. I only wish I would've been shooting a higher shutter speed and iso. I might have gotten a sharper picture. I was at 1/500 and iso-100. Overall, I'm pleased with the pictures. These are in camera jpgs. I don't know, what do you guys think? How could I improve it. Most of the shots are quite soft which I attribute to shutter speed or not tracking at the right speed. I need to be smoother while tracking. I thought I did real good at tracking until I reviewed the pics and noticed many of the shots had the eagle in different spots in the frame. (as you can see for yourself by the two shots I selected)

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Bald eagle in flight 1.

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Bald eagle in flight 2.

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Bald eagle in flight 2 100 percent crop.

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[sury]

I read it here that BIF need about 1/1600 or faster to get sharp images. The crop you have is not bad IMHO.
I used to struggle quite a bit trying to keep iso as low as possible and then started venturing out based on the
advice/tips I received on the forum and got much better.

with best regards,
Sury

[Birma]

A spectacular bird! As Sury has said I think I would try for 1/1000 or faster. As you were aat 100 ISO you could've afforded to go a few stops faster I think. This is a very challenging area and I'm no expert at wildlife shots. My advice is to take a lot of shots!

[mvanrheenen]

As a birder myself I can only echo the technical comments made by Sury and Birma. If you shot with the a580, you could easily have bumped 400 of 800 ISO to get that extra shutterspeed and not have a frame full of noise, especially considering the reasonable light you had (judging by the images).

For the shots, I like the pose of the bird in the second shot the most. Classic BIF pose and color and contrast are very good. The composition is not my taste with the bird being at the border of the image. For that, I would've preffered the first shot. You get the feeling of the environment you shot it with the treetops in the frame. But all in all, considering BIF are HARD to capture you did a great job!

Keep at it and keep posting het shots. Would love to see more of your work!

Mark

[jbtaylor]

Do you have the capability to customize settings on that camera? If so, then build a BIF formula. That way, you can flip a switch and be ready.
Which lens were you using? I assume the 70-300mm. It's never enough reach for Bald Eagles.

[the_hefay]

Thanks everyone for the advice and comments. It was the a580 and the Tamron 70-300. I'm still trying to get used to being able to use higher ISO with this camera. I used the a100 for so long that keeping the ISO at 100 or 200 almost became a way of life. As far as being able to set up a button or mode for quick access to BIF setting, I don't think I can do that with this camera. I guess I'll crack out the manual and see what it says.

[jbtaylor]

From a review-"The Sony A580 also offers a number of Scene modes, including Portrait, Sports Action, Macro, Landscape, Sunset, Night View, Hand-held Twilight, and Night Portrait, all accessed from a shared Scene (SCN) position on the Mode dial."

Looks like no customer settings. But the dial set to Sports Action probably gets you more than halfway there. It prioritizes shutter speed first. That is what you need.