Golden-cheeked Warbler

[Dan Walker]

GC warbler in GC warbler habitat, Junipers. These are endangered but find the right habitat and they can be abundant. Got this one in March in the Texas Hill Country. I have a reliable place to go see them now so I hope to get some more with a better background soon.

I struggled with the crop on this and still am unsure.

Nikon D80, AFS 300mm F4 x 1.4, 1/125 F8 ISO 200

Comments/Critiques appreciated

Thanks

Dan

[Steve Maxson]

I like the head turn and eye contact, Dan. I think that a different light angle would have improved this image considerably. As presented, the light is coming from the upper left leaving the throat and breast in shadow. Direct frontal lighting (i.e., point your shadow at the bird - to borrow a phrase from Artie) would produce more or less even lighting on the birds body. Now, just try and get the bird to cooperate. :) Good luck.

[Daniel Cadieux]

A beauty of a bird! Great head angle, but I think some fill would have helped with the body. You could try desaturating the yellows a couple of points...might bring back some more detail. The vegetation covering the tail does not bother me here. As for composition I would crop a bit top and bottom to give it a more traditional 2:3 aspect ration.

[Steve Canuel]

HI Dan,
I like the BG and the colors of the bird. As for your cropping concerns, the thing that stands out to me is that the rising branches that the bird is facing seem to be "driving" his head up. I'd try taking a bit more off the bottom to reduce the more detailed branches that detract a bit from the subject because of their sharpness and brightness.
Steve

[Dan Walker]

I attempted the suggested post processing tips and they really helped. I have a Better Beamer coming in the mail to help out with fill flash and found a button on that makes the bird face the correct direction, so next time....

thanks for the comments and help

Dan

[Robert Amoruso]

Dan,

Beautiful bird. I am OK withe the BG. You got some good suggestions about. I notice the the body is critically sharp but the head is not. If you are using all the focusing points to create the image, the closest part on the body is grabbing the focus. I suggest choosing a AF point near the eye to obtain focus there, our use a one-shot mode and focus on the eye, lock focus and recompose.

[Trey Barron]

If the better beamer has a button on it to make the head turn mine is faulty. I like it, but wish we had better light that day.

[Glenda Simmons]

No technical advice...just Thanks for sharing a beautiful little Warbler, I will likely never see. It made me grab one of my bird books for more info.