Cerulean Warbler on Grapevine

[Matthew Studebaker]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3585/3568874254_1bb9e1c430_o.jpg
St. Claire County, Michigan | May | Canon 40D | Canon 600mm f4 IS |1/500 5.6 ISO 200

Here is a shot I have been after for quite a while - Cerulean Warbler (perhaps my favorite bird) in direct light with a clean background and interesting perch. The direct light is actually the most difficult part of the equation. These guys live in the treetops of broadleaf deciduous forests where little light penetrates the forest floor. Everything finally came together a few weeks ago in Michigan.

[Mital Patel]

Matthew
this is indeed a gr8 image you have captured.
everything seems so beautiful.

One thing i would suggest you to clone out that is the leaf on right behind tail with a bit of transparency.

[Brian Barcelos]

Matthew, Excellent picture all around, you nailed it IMO. Maybe just lighten up around the eye a little but I don't know if the eye is all black like that. I wished these guys would land on my grape vine. Thanks for sharing.
Brian

[Randy Stout]

Matthew:

Lovely colors here. Nice DOF, like that the entire perch is in focus.

On my monitor, the bird is right on the bleeding edge of sharpness, and is just starting to look a bit "cookie cutter" like, standing out unnaturally from the background. I tend to err on the softer side re: sharpening, so perhaps just personal preference.

The only other point is that the bird is a bit too centered for my tastes. I might recrop it to move him out of the dead center.

Cheers

Randy

[Manos Papadomanolakis]

nice looking bird with fantastic perch,details,light and colors!!!

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Great details, exposure control, perch and BG. Did you use audio files to attract the bird? I'm not so crazy about the pose since the drooped wings look as if the bird is in distress. There is a good discussion about this topic here: http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?p=274158

[Aidan Briggs]

Wonderful light, BG, and setting. I love the little clusters of grapes(?). I am assuming this was a set up. How did you draw the bird in? Audio? Water Drip? Thanks.

Looking forward to more!

[Matthew Studebaker]

Hi Guys,
Unfortunately drips don't work north of the southernmost states or east of the Mississippi but a call was used to get this guy out of the treetops. I do like the sharpening as-is (personal preference) and while the bird is more centered than some compositions, if I were to crop more from the right we wouldn't be able to see the start of the curley mini-vine (yes curley mini-vine is the technical term) and it would through off the balance of the composition IMO. It's okay to center the bird as long as it's done with a purpose. His wings are dropped not out of distress but becuase he's so excited to show who's boss - kind of a macho thing. His lady friend was watching and word in the forest is she's a real catch (and yes her markings are real).

[Ramon M. Casares]

Amazing, great pose, fantastic perch, light is nice, BG detail, colors and texture are simply outstanding! I agree with Mital's suggestion.
COngratulaitons!

[Aidan Briggs]

Thanks for the info, Matthew.

[Gyorgy Szimuly]

Very nice image Matt. What a great and rare species. Perch is very nice and close to my heart as I love great wines ;)

Szimi

[Arthur Morris]

Hey Matthew, Fancy seeing you here. I like the image but do put me in the cookie cutter camp. As for the bird being centered (Randy <smile>), it is not. The bill is more than 3 times farther from the frame edge than the tail tip. If the bird were centered, those distances would be about the same....

[ChasMcRae]

The bird is well balanced in the pic because of the grape clusters and leaves.
This is on my wish list or should I say bucket list. I agree sharpening is a little extreme but no halo. Great shot of this species.
Chas.

[Randy Stout]

Artie:

I usually go by the centering rule as you described it, but his bird is such a brick, rather square. I just measured it and the midpoint of his shoulder is almost exactly 7 cm from either side. Perhaps I was thrown off by the square profile, but for my personal taste, the bird a bit more to the right of the frame might look better.

Matthew obviously had other considerations, balancing the perch elements, so I understand his choice.

Randy

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Warbler week!

Lovely warbler and composition. The inclusion of fruit adds to this great image.

[Danny Laredo]

Nice to see you here as well Matthew.
Stunning work as usual.