Golden-crowned Flycatcher

[James Babbitt]

This shot was taken in Ecuador, where a security light is left on at night at a private residence. Before dawn, especially after a very dark night, the flycatchers and ground birds gather for the feast. The flycatchers sit on perches and wait for the ground birds to scare up the hiding moths and then grab them as they flee. I attempted to get shots of the birds capturing moths in flight, but it was too dark. Within 15 minutes the feeding frenzy is over. This shot was with a 7D2, ISO 1600, 500 mm+1.4, SS 1/160 and f/5.6. My questions are: Should I add more canvas on the left (I have added approximately 1 centimetre to the top), even with the perch going out of focus? Should I bring up the brightness of the bird? Any other thoughts. Thank you in advance.

[Brian Sump]

James, personally I love everything about this canvas (including moss on the perch, the beautiful moth, head angle and detail) with exception of a touch more to left. You have a bit of an issue as you mentioned with the perch being oof, however you could get creative cloning some of the in focus portion from the middle I think. Regardless I believe a touch more oof perch letting the tail breathe wins. Others may differ on that.

As far as the bird, for an ISO 1600 and 1/160 shot I believe the brightness of the subject is perfect.

Appreciate the share!

[Dorian Anderson]

Very nice view of a bird I've seen many times in Ecuador and Colombia; it's a perfect depiction of bird and habitat. I would certainly loosening the crop to give him significantly more room on the left. I more OOF perch is fine and a non-offense compared to the current crop. Make the trade. I wouldn't worry about cloning things to make a perfect perch. The butterfly is the story, so that's where our attention goes!

[James Babbitt]

Thank you Brian and Dorian for your thoughts. I have added canvas to the left and a little more on top. I was using the 7D2 at the time and did not have much flexibility as to my focus point. I did not want to focus and recompose because of my slow shutter speed; hence I have to add canvas to get a little more tail room. I did some minor cloning on some repetitive patterns on the perch when I added canvas.

[Brian Sump]

Works for me James. Nice job!

[John Mack]

Looks good to me. A nice view of that prey.