Originally posted by CraigR The photo I posted here is one of my first attempts at some "wildlife" photography and it did need some DxO magic to denoise/clean it up but I see photos in this thread which are so clear and sharp (I am looking at you Des) that I wondered if some of you seasoned photographers could give this newbie some tips on how to get the best out of this lens?
It's a very good start Craig. Uneven lighting is as much of a challenge in wildlife photography as in any other type - you did well to get the exposure right in the duck you focused on. Fill flash can help to even up the lighting.
Shooting through foliage is another challenge - you did well to get the central duck. Ideally the foliage can frame the subject, but even when it isn't as neat as that, it can add a sense of drama, as if we are privileged to get a sneak peek at the subject.
The shutter speed/aperture/ISO balance is always difficult with wildlife. It is constant trial and error. I am usually comfortable with 3200 ISO with the KP/DxO PL5 combination (although less is better and higher can be OK), so I generally use TAv with the ISO band capped at 3200 (or 1600 if the light is better). You can shoot the 55-300 PLM wide open with confidence. Using f8 gives more scope for slightly missed focus, but for wildlife if you get the focus right you only really need f8 where the DOF is otherwise insufficient (e.g. with a group of birds or where you are too close to get the whole bird/animal in). I'd suggest trying to get the shutter to 1/500th or 1/640th if practicable if the subject is moving at all (e.g. a bird preening), faster if it's hopping around and at least 1/800th (preferably 1/1250th or so) if it's flying. On the other hand, perched birds can be very still, if only for a moment, and then you can drop the shutter to 1/125th or even slower if necessary. (Providing you have good technique: see
tps://www.pentaxforums.com/reviews/long-exposure-handhelds/introduction.html) Shooting a burst will give you a better chance - one will often be better than the others.
But even in (relatively) sunny Australia, under tree cover often the light is insufficient for optimal settings. You can back off to about 260mm for f5.6, or drop the shutter speed to 1/80th, or raised the ISO to 5000 if you need to, but the success rate declines with each compromise. You can usually gain a stop or so with flash without adverse effects ...
.. but more is often too much. There comes a point when you just have to wait for better conditions (or get a faster lens!).
We all have our own focusing preferences. I use AF-C and an auto setting for birds in flight (saved to a user mode), but single-point AF-S for everything else. In AF-S, if the bird isn't large in the frame, centre point is OK - you can crop to create the negative space as required. But my preference lately is to select the focus point, starting with the one above centre or the one either side of it, depending on where I think the eye is likely to be. I used to use back button AF, but switched back to shutter button AF so my thumb is free to move the focus point. This is a matter of personal preference and practice.
The reality is that, for me, there are still lots of misses for every hit. Unless the bird is a rarity or a lifer and the photo is just a record, I try to cull more ruthlessly these days. Then I can spend more time post-processing the better ones. I like PL5 a lot. One trick is to turn off ClearView and reduce the microcontrast for the image as a whole, and maybe reduce the overall exposure a little, then select the subject in Local Adjustments (control points work well) and apply microcontrast and ClearView to taste and increase the exposure a little. This helps make the subject stand out; with a light touch it should not look artificial. I find it's also often worth exporting the processed image to Nik Color Efex and finalising with suitable filters - the Darken-Lighten Center filter is particularly useful.
Hope this helps. Enjoy the lens.