Hawaiian Endemic Birds: Hawaii Amakihi

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I am new to this forum and am a relative novice to bird photography (started in Jan. 2012). I live on the North Shore of Oahu and have been trying to photograph all Hawaiian endemic birds before they go extinct. Here is my first image for comments and criticism.

Location: Ka'Ohe Game Management Area, Big Island, Hawaii
Camera Gear: Canon 1d MKIIn + 500 mm F4 L + 2X III converter on Benro C380T tripod and GH-2 Gimbal head, Flash Canon 580 EXII + Better Beamer + Battery pack
Image Details: ISO 1250, Focal Length 1000 mm F/8, Shutter: 1/640 sec
Processing: Imported into Lightroom 4, cropped, contrast, clarity, vibrance, saturation adjusted, Noise reduction and details also in LR4.
About the bird: Hawaii Amakihi is part of the honey creeper family and is not an endangered species.
Mahalo
Vishnu

Vishnu, a very worthwhile and interesting project.
I don't see very many Hawaii birds on any photo site and would like to see more.
Your photo has a lot going on and a lot to like.
You obviously liked the setting and perch a lot, but for me, the bird is almost secondary, placed too high in the
frame and the flower in front competes with it.
It is a tough comp, but I would cut some leaves off at the bottom and make a more traditional horizontal crop.
Everything is sharp and in focus, exposure could be a bit brighter as the bird is backlit. Some flash fill would have helped.
I look forward to more birds from your beautiful state.

Good points by Dan. You may be the only person posting from Hawaii, looking forward to more.

Jack

Nice and pose and I like that vegetation. The BG is pretty distracting for me and I am seeing some issues with noise and aberration in the BG.

Thanks a lot Dan, Jack and Marina. I looked at my set of images I took and found one that might be better based on Dan's input. Shooting small birds has been a real challenge as they don't stay on the flower for more than 1-2 seconds. Below is the improved image. Thanks again for helpful advice.

Mahalo
Vishnu


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by dankearl

Vishnu, a very worthwhile and interesting project.
I don't see very many Hawaii birds on any photo site and would like to see more.
Your photo has a lot going on and a lot to like.
You obviously liked the setting and perch a lot, but for me, the bird is almost secondary, placed too high in the
frame and the flower in front competes with it.
It is a tough comp, but I would cut some leaves off at the bottom and make a more traditional horizontal crop.
Everything is sharp and in focus, exposure could be a bit brighter as the bird is backlit. Some flash fill would have helped.
I look forward to more birds from your beautiful state.

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I like the repost looks nicer for colours and composition
great to see different birds and with you we get to see one more area
keep them coming