Two days ago I received the following request from blog follower Zaphir Shamma:
- “Hello Ron, Say, I was wondering if you’d ever consider posting the uncropped photo to illustrate distance to target? I never get the detail you get when I crop in like you. It’d be helpful to me if I better understood how far away the target was. Might help me manage my expectations better and guide me in how close I have to be to replicate the sharpness you continually obtain. It wouldn’t be a glamour shot I understand, but it’d be a teaching tool I think. Just my two cents…thank you in advance for considering this request.”
On the same day I received the request I took the following shot of a Northern Harrier near the Fremont River in Wayne County, Utah. Because I liked the eye contact and the light on the underside of the bird but the hawk was relatively small in the uncropped frame I decided to use the photo to respond to Zaphir’s request. Zaphir uses the same gear I do (including the 500 f/4 with attached 1.4 tc) but this discussion should also be useful to other photographers using different high quality lenses.
1/1600, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
This version of the photo was cropped to 42.5 % of the original image (8.5 MP of the original 20 MP). For me that’s an extreme crop. Typically I don’t go much below 50% (unless it’s a documentary shot illustrating behavior or some interesting physical feature) because extreme cropping causes loss of detail and image quality and significantly increases noise. And if your subject is not sharp it also makes the softness more obvious.
Here’s the full frame (uncropped) version of the image. Both versions were processed identically – the bird was selectively sharpened and some minor exposure adjustments were made to the RAW file before I converted to JPEG.
One of the major temptations of bird photographers is to crop too much because our subjects tend to be difficult to get close to and high quality super telephoto lenses are so ridiculously expensive. But doing so often defeats our primary purpose of obtaining high quality images with significant detail. Cropping is a process of diminishing returns so it’s a conundrum.
But who ever said that bird photography is easy? Or cheap?
Ron
PS – I’ve arrived home from my camping trip to Wayne County. It was a frustrating experience because my primary goal was Sage Grouse on a lek in the back country but I STILL couldn’t get to the lek because of snow and muddy roads at those high elevations. The only thing I wanted less than being “skunked” was becoming stuck on those dirt roads and “two tracks” and having to walk many miles back to my camping trailer in the wind and freezing temperatures. I do have my priorities…
I’m leaving to go shooting in a few minutes but I’ll respond to any comments/questions when I return.
15 minutes later: I’m such a dummy sometimes! I’ve been rushing around trying to get ready to leave in time so I can be at my destination at dawn. But this is one of the first times I’ve been shooting at home since the daylight savings change and when I opened the garage door it was still PITCH black outside and I realized that I’m an hour early. Sheesh…
Ron…a day late responding to your post, but a big THANK YOU for taking the time to address my question. It would seem that “closeness” is one of the ingredients that is absolutely mandatory for sharp, crisp, breath-taking photos. That closeness is hard to come by with the birds we love to photograph. I had always used the 1/9th rule…that if the target is taking up at least 1/9th of the frame, you’ve got enough to work with and crop in. I think I need to revise that line of thought and move more towards the 1/3 to 1/2 rule like you have done. That’ll save some clicks too as I delete about 99% of my shots anyways. Much appreciate you taking the time to respond to my question 🙂
You’re very welcome, Zaph. Thanks for asking the question.
Thanks, Ron. That was helpful and clearly I need to get closer. I keep trying.
I have started staying in my Jeep as you advised. Got some close Seagulls today…
But then…
Beautiful as always.
Stephen, Using my vehicle as a mobile blind works well for me but depending on a variety of factors (terrain, roads, traffic etc) other methods may be preferable. It just depends. Thank you.
Beautiful Ron!
Charlotte
Thanks, Charlotte.
Ron, this is a very helpful post. I recently got the Nikon 200-500 and am considering the 1.4 extender. The lens apparently is 750 with DX and 500 with FX. My camera is Nikon Df, and I am wondering if DX crop would be the equivalent of a DX camera. I am still getting accustomed to it, as it just arrived this week. Today is gorgeous here in Montana. Went out early and only ONE raptor anywhere in sight: a Golden Eagle, and it was on a D…. pole on the side of the paved road. Drove dirt roads all over, and the birds are hunkered in somewhere. It is cold, so maybe they think spring has gone. Many thanks for your photography lessons!!
Jane, I’m relatively unfamiliar with the Nikon DX/FX formats though Mia shoots with a Nikon camera that switches from one to the other. It’s my understanding that one of the formats (can never remember which is which) is full frame and one is cropped sensor. I’m pretty clueless about Nikon.
I know your frustration about Golden Eagles. On my recent camping trip there was one within 10 feet of the road feeding on apparent road kill as I drove by pulling the camping trailer. I wanted photos so badly that I found a place a mile or so down the road where I could turn around with the trailer, did so and went back. The eagle was still there, very close. I stopped my pickup and just as my autofocus was about to lock on to the eagle it took off, away from me. I was so damned frustrated!
I do love learning here. Even learning things which I will probably never use.
My internal clock takes a looooong time to set to DST. Since I usually get up in the dark (it won’t be light for a good while yet), the start of the dratted thing makes me feel I am approaching the day before. If that makes sense. Or even if it doesn’t.
That tremor is a cow isn’t it? It makes sifting flour for baking easy (which my partner told me as he watched) but makes a number of other jobs MUCH for frustrating. And difficult.
EC, my essential tremors aren’t always a problem but when I really NEED steadiness they become worse. Or when I’m nervous, which is typical of essential tremors. Maybe I should do more baking…
Tremors must be a real bummer in photography, though have must some positive potential when it comes to salting and stirring things and scratching your nose or your butt…not so much when it comes to applying eyeliner and lipstick… 🙂
Although no way do these techy things apply to me, for some reason I still find them interesting…love the pictures that go along with these discussions….
“Although no way do these techy things apply to me, for some reason I still find them interesting”
That’s one reason you’re so well rounded, Patty – you have varied interests combined with curiosity. A combination that’s much too uncommon these days IMO…
Thanks, but chocolate donuts are the real reason I’m so well-tounded….. 🙂
How do you know how much sharpening to add? Just what looks good? I find myself sharpening, saving to jpg to examine – then repeating this as I try to get it right. I wish I could find a good class on photoshop editing for birds/wildlife.
“How do you know how much sharpening to add?”
It’s a judgment call, Melissa and it often isn’t an easy one. In the beginning I had a lot of trouble with it but experience and practice helps a lot over time.
One thing to look for – the image begins to look “crinkly” with too much sharpening, caused by small areas of brighter colors and whites becoming too bright at the pixel level. It’s hard to explain – maybe that’s why folks often just say “crinkly”…
When I see an obviously over sharpened image I can’t see past it to appreciate the image. Just like sharpening halos I find over sharpening to be very distracting.
Very helpful Ron–thank you so much for taking the time for this discussion, we all benefitted! Thanks to Zaphir for the great question 😉
Thank you Christine (and Zaphir). I’m glad it was useful for you.
Do you use optical stabilization all the time or selectively ? Off at high shutter speed ?
Christopher, Yes, my IS is turned on all of the time.
Thx for the lesson(s) Ron. 🙂 Getting close is a challenge and frustrating to catch the raptors in motion. I’m not so fancy – a Sigma 120-400 with a 1.4 TC. Tho the telephoto range helps, sometimes, it’s often too many things to do at once and sharpness will never be what you get with your lens!
“sharpness will never be what you get with your lens!”
Maybe not, Judy, but it still can be pretty darned good (detail too) if you’re close to the bird and don’t have to crop much.
But then the dilemma becomes “am I too close to the bird, risking disturbing it unnecessarily”, especially in certain sensitive situations. Another conundrum and one we should all be careful about IMO.
That’s true and I have gotten some decent photo’s with it – getting to close is something I pay attention to tho with raptors pointing the camera at them even at a fairly long distance disturbs them at times – their sight is TOO good. 🙂
Many thanks for this post, Ron – very interesting.
I’m finding it very difficult to get close to raptors/birds unless I’m in my truck. Even so, in many instances traffic is such that I have to be isolated to even get a documentary shot.
However, we do have an adult Red-tail from time to time likes perching on our bluebird boxes looking for voles or mice approximately 300 – 500 feet away at this time of year.
I have to seriously crop when using my 400 with a 1.4tc. Just about make it if the hawk is on the closest box. Taking shots of him/her flying has been a disaster so far.
Frustration is not an option, perseverance and practice is what I need to focus on!
Dick, If it were me I think I’d work on takeoff shots of the hawk from the nest box. It tends to be easier to get them when they launch than it is in full flight and with their wings up or out they take up much more room in the frame so you shouldn’t have to crop quite so much. An added bonus is that you may be able to crop the nest box out of the image…
Frustration may not be an option but it sure is hard to avoid, isn’t it?
OK Professor, I will work on that.
Did that yesterday – but if I’m honest, age is creeping into my hand-hold so I have to steady my hand-hold against something, side of house, window, etc. As I said perseverance and practice – but someone needs to tell the Red-tsil to cooperate!!!! VBGf!
Yeh, the age thing isn’t helpful for hand-held particularly with a heavy lens! 🙂
Dick, High shutter speeds should help with that age-related shake thing too.
I have the same thing, aggravated by essential tremors that run in my family. Yet another reason I use high SS’s…
Thank you.