Through Glass

[Pops]

Common enough up in the trees but not so down in the garden.
Spotted him through the kitchen window. Camera already had it's hood fitted so positioned the hood right up against the glass and managed a few shots. Setting was on aperture priority at f5.6
He was around 50 feet away so I was fairly pleased with the results.
All tips for shooting through glass appreciated.
(one other shot in the birds gallery)

[Blank Page]

Re: Through Glass

Other than being a bit soft, from shooting through glass I presume, and maybe not enough detail on the head, I like this shot. Nice muted colours that suit the bird (crow or raven?) and subtle tones in the feathers, and nice composition.

Would sharpening reduce the softness without spoiling the tones?

Edit: Just had a look at it and the other in your gallery and I see it's a rook, what I think is a raven over here.

And IIRC, putting the lens hood right up against the glass is a good idea since it eliminates reflections.

[Pops]

Re: Through Glass

Other than being a bit soft, from shooting through glass I presume, and maybe not enough detail on the head, I like this shot. Nice muted colours that suit the bird (crow or raven?) and subtle tones in the feathers, and nice composition.

Would sharpening reduce the softness without spoiling the tones?

Edit: Just had a look at it and the other in your gallery and I see it's a rook, what I think is a raven over here.

And IIRC, putting the lens hood right up against the glass is a good idea since it eliminates reflections.

Thanks Blank Page...I'll apply some usm and see how it looks

[Tinka]

Re: Through Glass

Hi pops,
Nice capture, seems to be a bit grumpy and saying "Wot ya looking at peeps?", could try selecting the bird and applying selective unsharp mask, might work, then invert selection and blur the trees slightly more, after feathering the selection of course, on a full size image that feather could be as much as 150 to 200 pixels. "Hey that sounds like I know wot I'm talking about" , Not really, it just something I have tried before, it worked for me.

[Steve40]

Re: Through Glass

Pops.

Before you try to sharpen the image, try this. Using unsharp mask set like this: Amount = 20%, Radius = 50, Threshold = 0. Its pretty hard to sharpen images taken through glass, as the imperfections in the glass distort the image. But you can effectively remove the foggy appearance that goes along with it, makes a good bit of difference. Unsharp mask set like above doesn't sharpen, it just removes the glass.

[Pops]

Re: Through Glass

Pops.

Before you try to sharpen the image, try this. Using unsharp mask set like this: Amount = 20%, Radius = 50, Threshold = 0. Its pretty hard to sharpen images taken through glass, as the imperfections in the glass distort the image. But you can effectively remove the foggy appearance that goes along with it, makes a good bit of difference. Unsharp mask set like above doesn't sharpen, it just removes the glass.

Thanks for that tip Steve.
Duly copied and stored for future ref.

added .... just tried that Steve and it works a treat.

[Steve40]

Re: Through Glass

Pops.

You can vary the amount + or - the 20, for more or less effect also. But don't change the radius or threshold settings.

[Pops]

Re: Through Glass

Hi pops,
Nice capture, seems to be a bit grumpy and saying "Wot ya looking at peeps?", could try selecting the bird and applying selective unsharp mask, might work, then invert selection and blur the trees slightly more, after feathering the selection of course, on a full size image that feather could be as much as 150 to 200 pixels. "Hey that sounds like I know wot I'm talking about" , Not really, it just something I have tried before, it worked for me.

I'll play around with your suggestions Tinka.
The tip from Steve does the job nicely though