BTW, I have exactly the same problem you are discussing when bird shooting.
The place you'll likely find many birds are in natural areas with bodies of
water. I'm separated from the subjects by 10 - 50 meters at my favorite
birding location. My longest lens is 500, and I have yet to get a
satisfactory shot. At those distances the bird just fills the the spot
meter circle in the viewfinder. Cropping inevitably renders an image that
is too grainy/noisy.
The only solution is really lenses with more reach, or getting closer. I'm
considering using some telescopic lenses (camera on the telescope) to see
how it works.
Tom C.
From: Tim Øsleby <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: pentax-discuss@pdml.net
To: <pentax-discuss@pdml.net>
Subject: RE: Composing on screen vs. in viewfinder. Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2006
13:39:05 +0200
List. You are not responding to my question, you are simply burping gas.
Helicopter is out of the question ;-)
My question was something like this. How do I become better at cropping at
computer? I tried to analyze the situation a bit, but the question was as
simple as that.
Tim
Mostly harmless (just plain Norwegian)
Never underestimate the power of stupidity in large crowds
(Very freely after Arthur C. Clarke, or some other clever guy)
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tim Øsleby [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Sent: 10. april 2006 23:53
> To: pentax-discuss@pdml.net
> Subject: Composing on screen vs. in viewfinder.
>
> Those of you reading the list lately may have noticed that I have a
> project
> going on, that forces me to explore some new land (read learn new
> techniques).
> How a beeeep should you avoid noticing that? With my endless ranting
> questions ;-)
>
> I have been talking about using longer lenses, building hides and so on.
> This has been great fun, and I am learning a lot about photography and
> birds. My longest glass that is usable is 500mm (with converter it tends
> to
> be too soft), so I have to crop the pictures to make them interesting.
>
> This has made me realise that I am a lot better at composing in
viewfinder
> then I am with composing on computer screen. I have been thinking about
> this. I have some ideas about why.
>
> First:
> It is that in the field I compose more on instinct. I am there, and I
have
> emotions about the motifs. My heart is involved, and I believe that it
is
> my
> heart that makes the composing decisions. Back at home, the motifs are
> more
> distant to me, so there I compose by brain (and as you know, that's not
> much
> of a brain).
>
> The second reason has to do with the decisive moment:
> When I shot slides my mind was in "capture mode" (sorry Shel, I know you
> don't like that word). When pushing the button I knew that what is in
> frame,
> stays in frame, and what is out of frame, stays out. (Everybody who has
> tried masking slides in glassless frames, knows that you do everything
you
> can to avoid that activity later).
>
> Now, when shooting digitally, being forced to crop later something
happens
> with my mindset. There is no decisive moment in post processing on
> computer.
> There is always possible to go back.
>
> What I'm saying is that I think I need the decisive moment to make a
good
> composition. I also need to be emotionally connected with the motif in
> some
> way.
>
> But what do I do about this? Practise is one obvious answer. And I will
> practise. But, I also have a strong belief in the power and wisdom of
this
> list. I would really surprise me if it doesn't burp up some good ideas
and
> advise.
>
>
> Tim
> Mostly harmless (just plain Norwegian)
>
> Never underestimate the power of stupidity in large crowds
> (Very freely after Arthur C. Clarke, or some other clever guy)
>
>
>
