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Stephen Stephen
10-28-2008, 11:47 AM
I have not had an opportunity to post here for quite some time. I created this image in early September in my parents' back in New Brunswick. I believe that it is a juvenile or female Blackburnian warbler but I stand to be corrected. It would be my first photo of this species if my ID is correct.

Unfortunately the OOF leaf is partially obscuring the insect (crane fly?).

Canon 40D, Sigma 50-500 at 500mm, ISO 640, F6,3. 1/640 sec, no fill flash. Handheld and cropped to ~75% of full frame.
Sabyasachi Patra
10-28-2008, 12:09 PM
I agree that the swaying leaf partly obstructs the insect. I would have loved the bird facing the other way as the"V" shape of the branch draws your attention. You did well to nail the focus despite all the foliage and get it sharp despite handholding.
Arthur Morris
10-28-2008, 02:47 PM
What focal length? Looks passably sharp and the bug is great. The image looks dingy and the colors muddy--not sure why but flash would likely have helped a bit.
Stephen Stephen
10-28-2008, 04:33 PM
Thank you Sabyasachi and Artie.

Artie the focal length was 500 mm and you're right about the drab colours. I've boosted the saturation and contrast a bit on this re-worked version so hopefully it will look better. I'm not sure why I didn't pick up on that myself during hte post processing. Perhaps my monitor needs to be re-calibrated.
Dave Brown
10-29-2008, 12:45 AM
Hey,

Not much to say except that I feel the repost was a big improvement over the drabber color of the first post. Aslo ,regarding id,this is most definitely a Blackburnian Warbler. Based on the brightness of the orange and the September date, I would say with relative certainty that this is a male bird, possibly a fall adult. I forgot to study the plumage to look for wear patterns. Blackburnian is a rare breeeder in Newfoundland and less than annual in fall in, so I kinda lack experience with this species.

Dave Brown
Arthur Morris
10-29-2008, 04:46 AM
The repost is only a slight improvement. I tired to balance the color to get away from the huge green cast but no matter what I did the results were always muddy. I would suggest that in low light while working in the understory that the use of just a bit of flash (-2 stops at most) is pretty much mandatory.