Bird in a Basket

[Marina Scarr]

This White-eyed Vireo nest was photographed with a borrowed lens and no flash under the canopy. Went to the East Coast to photograph a fox den. When asked if I needed a short lens and flash, the response was no. I knew in my gut I should have brought them, but opted to travel light. After photographing the den, we decided to head over to Merritt Island NWR where, of course, I needed a short lens and flash. After my friend finished photographing, I borrowed the 70-200 b/c I couldn't stand back far enough to photograph this nest since it was on the boardwalk. My friends returned the next day with macro lenses and flashes. Boo-hoo. I was still happy to have witnessed and photographed this nest although I would have liked more DOF. To make matters more difficult, there was a lot of wind, and this basket was swinging to and fro.

Canon 1D3, Canon 70-200 F4 IS @ 169mm
F4.5, 1/160sec, ISO 800, manual mode
Handheld

C & C always welcomed and much appreciated.

Marina Scarr
www.marinascarrphotography.com

[Grace Scalzo]

What a fascinating image, Marina. I'm thinking a bit about the comp. Do you have any more on the LHS? Also, I see what you were going for on top with the complete leaf, but I'm not loving the highlights up there. The squarish crop that results from trimming topside does not both me at all here and allows my eye to settle right on the bird's eye and her interesting nest. WDYT?

[Marina Scarr]

What a fascinating image, Marina. I'm thinking a bit about the comp. Do you have any more on the LHS? Also, I see what you were going for on top with the complete leaf, but I'm not loving the highlights up there. The squarish crop that results from trimming topside does not both me at all here and allows my eye to settle right on the bird's eye and her interesting nest. WDYT?

Not a bad idea, Grace. I just pulled it into PS and cropped that small leaf out and it looks pretty good. It direct the eye more toward the nest/bird. Thank you for the idea.

[gail bisson]

This is lovely Marina.
I really like Grace's idea.
I love the curled up leaf on the right and the peek-a-boo eye of the vireo.
I really like the texture of the nest and the play of the yellows and greens.
Gail

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Marina this is a VERY nice image. I actually like the bright highlight at the top and like the vertical crop quite a bit. I think it brings the nest into focus even more. Like Gail mentioned, the yellows and greens are pleasant.

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Great find and capture. I would have liked more dof as well but this works well too. I was drawn right to the birds eye. I like the inclusion of the leaf but i would have probably taken more from the top to the start of the curled part of the leaf. What a cool little nest

[Satish Ranadive]

Absolutely superb.nice composition.I like the way white eye keeps me engage and apt title too.

Regards,
Satish.

[laurie golden]

Marina,

This is a dream shot. Change the crop or leave it the way it is, it is gorgeous.

[Shawn Zierman]

What a cool looking nest. Love the collage of materials, and the bird looks great too.
I agree with Cheryl that adjusting the shooting techs and or zooming back a bit to increase
the dof would have only improved this fine image.

[christopher galeski]

very nice image,like as is.thanks.

[Ken Watkins]

very nice image,like as is.thanks.

+ 1 , remarkably beautiful moment captured here

[Karl Egressy]

Wow, this is amazing opportunity and great shot, Marina.
My best finding ever was six nests within 300 feet along a trail in Pinery but all were high up except two but those vere kind of blocked.
One was a nest of a Red-eyed Vireo, the other was a Yellow-throated Vireo.
Also a Pileated Woodpecker, Rose-brested Grosbeak and a Scarlet Tanager, as well as an Eastern Pewee.
Just came back from the same spot and found none.

[Andrew Merwin]

A lovely image with great detail. I quite like your chosen composition. TFS.

[Melissa Groo]

Fantastic image, Marina. That eye is absolutely riveting. Yes about the depth of field issue, but you did a great job, esp considering the challenging conditions.

[Ofer Levy]

Lovely shot! The only thing I would do is reducing the bright areas in the BG. here is a quick repost. Composition is spot on IMHO.
BTW - depth of field looks perfect in here - you couldn't go less than this as we can see on the bird and nest.

[Robert Holguin]

Excellent shot. I really love how the bird is just popping out of the nest. Great eye contact and wonderful background.
Well done.

[Marina Scarr]

Thank you for the repost, Ofer, and for your critique. I much prefer your BG but try to do as little work to my images as possible. I tried the burn tool on this BG but it didn't work.

[Sanjeevprakash]

Beautiful & rare Moment captured,Marina.Amazing shot.TFS