Silvereye on Acacia

[PhilCook]

Having a heat here wave atm, 43 deg today, clear skies, and continuing for a few days to come. Went up to the old farm dam again this morning, quite a few birds coming in to drink and bathe, lots of pix taken today and the past few days.

A struggle with harsh light and most birds sticking to the shade to escape the intense heat. Concealed myself in the thorn bushes surrounding the small dam and mostly around 20 feet/6 metres from subjects that came into drink. Angle of shots are often looking slightly down into the remaining water of the dam as it dries up, but this little Silvereye was more at eye level. This little Silvereye perched briefly on an Acacia branch I placed into the mud which was in reasonable light.


Canon 7D + 500 f4 + 1.4 X TC........700mm, f6.3, 1/125, ISO 400, no flash used, tripod mounted from a rough hiding spot with no room to move.....basic edit = slight crop, selective sharpen, selective noise reduction, curves adjustment

[Karl Egressy]

The colours and pattern are striking. Love the pose, perch and the neutral background, that makes the bird pop. Great work, Phil.

[Mike Milicia]

Excellent perch, pose and detail!
Maybe a little more contrast on the bird?

[David Salem]

Very nice capture Phil. lThe exposure and detail are perfect and the HA dosnt get much better. Like the white eye ring on this species too. Well done.

[Don Nelson]

Beautiful small bird, excellent head turn and good detail in the capture. I also like the neutral background. Well done.

[Marina Scarr]

What a terrific image. Super details and colors with a nice perch.

[Matthew Studebaker]

Exposure: good
Detail: great detail
Light: nice and soft
Pose: fun / dynamic pose
Composition: it works as-is for me. if it were mine, I would rotate this counter-clockwise just a little to level out the beak and take the branch out of the upper right corner.
beautiful image!!

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Love the diagonally placed perch, Phil and the pose + eye contact is great. I too felt that some addition contrast would possibly give it a bit more pop?

[Daniel Cadieux]

Ooh-la-la this is nice! Great bird, awesome perch...what I like best is the green strands on it that match the plumage. Makes the heat a little more tolerable when you have images like this to come home to process eh!

[Tony Whitehead]

Lovely pose, Phil. I agree about trying a little more contrast on the bird. I would crop from the right to eliminate the one She-oak cone and needles and a little from above to help decentre the bird. Great result in the harsh conditions

[PhilCook]

Thanks for looking, judging contrast is something I struggle with, but I see the point in this

[Greg Oakley]

Sweet shot Phil - beautiful High Key type shot with a great pose and attractive perch. Small nit is that colours on the Silvereye are a little too blue/green rather than the more natural olive green of this species, but still a wonderful image,
Cheers, Greg

PS. Hope you are handling the unbelievable heat (41C here today in Melbourne - you guys in SA are looking at 43C!!

[PhilCook]

Sweet shot Phil - beautiful High Key type shot with a great pose and attractive perch. Small nit is that colours on the Silvereye are a little too blue/green rather than the more natural olive green of this species, but still a wonderful image,
Cheers, Greg

PS. Hope you are handling the unbelievable heat (41C here today in Melbourne - you guys in SA are looking at 43C!!

I think you may be right about the slight color fault, cheers Greg.....and yes we are cooking over here, was going to go birding up to the dam again this morning but much too hot !

[Satish Ranadive]

Phil:
Magnificent image. Love the pose with super details, colors,eye ring and very nice perch.
I like the placement of bird in the frame.

Regards,
Satish.

[Frank Schauf]

Beautiful perch and nice composition, Phil.

[PhilCook]

Thanks folks for the kind words