My first (serious) attempt to photograph wildlife.

These were taken @ post of Gerakas Greece, a small fjiord near Monemvasia

A lot of birds find shelter there during the winter when it gets really cold.

Lens was a new Sigma 150-500 that proved a little difficult to cooperate with my K50. I mean AF would not lock easily and most of the time i had to resort to MF. Now i know that the K50 is not for sports (maybe not for flying birds as well) but truth is i expected better performance. Maybe it's the camera, maybe it's me, but i hope i'll work it out.

Another thing i noticed is that i had difficulty nailing the exposure on the white feathered bird. Any thoughts?

Thanks for viewing

Takis

[Canada_Rockies]

I think you might have better luck metering the white bird (or anything bright in the same lighting) and adding 2 stops of exposure. Then shoot in manual (M on the mode dial) to prevent the camera from out thinking you.

Another alternative that works better for me with an older 100% manual lens is to use the sunny 16 rule. 1/ISO @ f/16 is full sun exposure. Your meter is fooled by the brightness of the subject because it is reflected light that it is measuring. If your camera is at ISO 800 and the lens is at f/16; an exposure of 1/1000 second will usually prevent the highlights from blowing out. You could also use ISO 400 and 1/500 for the same effect and less grain.

[takis63]

I think you might have better luck metering the white bird (or anything bright in the same lighting) and adding 2 stops of exposure. Then shoot in manual (M on the mode dial) to prevent the camera from out thinking you.

Another alternative that works better for me with an older 100% manual lens is to use the sunny 16 rule. 1/ISO @ f/16 is full sun exposure. Your meter is fooled by the brightness of the subject because it is reflected light that it is measuring. If your camera is at ISO 800 and the lens is at f/16; an exposure of 1/1000 second will usually prevent the highlights from blowing out. You could also use ISO 400 and 1/500 for the same effect and less grain.

Thank you very much!

[Canada_Rockies]

Film used to be supplied with a slip of paper with the Sunny 16 exposures on it for the particular film speed. Wikipedia has the basics HERE