Fire-eyed Diucon

[Arthur Morris]

The image was created in Paine del Torres National Park, Chile on a recent trip to Chilean Patagonia with the Gitzo 3532 LS carbon fiber tripod, the Mongoose M3.6 head, the Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens, the Canon 2x EF Extender III (Teleconverter), and the Canon EOS-1D X. ISO 800. Evaluative metering a zero (in bright overcast): 1/125 sec. at f/13 in Manual mode. Audio playback used.

Central sensor (by necessity) Expand/AI Servo Rear Focus AF on the bird’s eye and re-compose. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version.

Note that if the sun had been out at full strength that I would have needed to go to -1/3 stop to keep from burning the white throat. Nikon folks would need as much as -1 had the sun been out.... It takes some guts to re-compose so drastically but this bird usually stayed very still on the perch for more than a few seconds so I decided to go for the best composition with the bird looking towards the empty part of the frame. Note also that for this pose with the bird facing but angled towards us that the head angle, perfectly square to the imaging sensor, is ideal.

Click here and scroll down to see the original image and learn a bit about audio playback.

Please don't be shy; all comments are welcome.

[John Robinson]

Bird etc spot on ! My only very minor nit is perhaps positioning the bird a little more to the left . very minor. Great exposure.
JR

[Karl Egressy]

Beautiful bird, great IQ, perfect exposure. Love the delicate perch, beautiful eye and the nice pose.

[Arthur Morris]

Bird etc spot on ! My only very minor nit is perhaps positioning the bird a little more to the left . very minor. Great exposure. JR

Thanks. There is no way that I would want to move the bird even one pixel to the left; doing so takes away the tension and balance. :)

[Enrique Patino]

Beautiful image and great IQ. Would you have liked the perch to be darker (with bark) or are you OK with it like that? TFS

[keith mitchell]

Cracking image I would not change a thing.

Keith.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Artie, with single AF available I assume this was on the body/chest, but why go for f/13, wouldn't say f/9 be sufficient, plus a slightly better SS? Be interested to know your thoughts.

Position looks good to me., however with such a clean BKG I then wonder about the two small branches coming in from the foot of the image, but removal would, I feel, make the whole image to clinical & sterile so glad you kept them in.

TFS
Steve

[Bill Dix]

Gorgeous image. Great detail, nice pose, brilliant eye that is the perfect complement to the green BG. I like the comp as is, and I like the inclusion of the two smaller twigs, although they are close to being blown (253-254 in places) and pull the eye a bit. Toning them down wouldn't bother me unless it turns them grey.

[Grace Scalzo]

Such fine compositional elements, especially love the way that the curve of the perch echos that of the body. Color palette is simple and lovely. Bird has such clarity, I feel as if I could touch it.

[Randy Stout]

Artie:

Sharp but almost a soft feel to the plumage, which works well. Great eye, the perch components work well. Lover the grip details.

Cheers

Randy

[John Robinson]

That's the beauty of critique sites. It is a window on evry one,s views and they never (or rarely) always tally.
I have to say I still think the subject is a tad too far right. But that is my humble opinion which I am asked to give on joining this forum.
. Cheers
JR
JR

[Daniel Cadieux]

That eye looks great against an otherwise drably plumaged (but beautiful!) bird. I also like the white throat. I love the perch curving along with the bird's pose. Not knowing what is below the frame I think a vertical would have been nice had you had the time to do so.

[arash_hazeghi]

great pose, exposure, details and nice BG. perch is nice too, I might burn the branches a bit more.

[dankearl]

The IQ is just great, I like the white bark, I might add just a tad above as it seems tight?

[Girish Prahalad]

fire-eyed it definitely is. excellent details, perch & BG. Must have been pretty close for using F13 to get that DOF.

[MohsenVahedipour]

Excellent pose & IQ. Technically perfect . I like the perch size & BG. The composition works for me, but As Dan said, I think also the vertical crop works considering the pose. TFS

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Artie, super pose looking into space, and just love that eye. You have brought out the finer plumage nicely, and overall, well exposed too.

[Holger Leyrer]

I love pose, sharpness and Background. But the red eye is great.

[mohammad reza shahab]

Excellent pose,composition & very good IQ. I like the perch size & BG.

[Arthur Morris]

Hi Artie, with single AF available I assume this was on the body/chest, but why go for f/13, wouldn't say f/9 be sufficient, plus a slightly better SS? Be interested to know your thoughts.

Position looks good to me., however with such a clean BKG I then wonder about the two small branches coming in from the foot of the image, but removal would, I feel, make the whole image to clinical & sterile so glad you kept them in.

TFS
Steve

Hi Steve, Wide open with this combo is f/8. DOF is most important when working with small birds at close range. Plus my new gig with the 2X has been to go to smaller apertures (wcich I rarely do). Mo worries on the ss as long as the bird is still. I love, love, love the two skinny branches lower right. If you check out the original you will see that I removed others less pleasing. Tanks for commenting. artie

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Artie, thanks for the reply, indeed, I have to say I have no qualms about the 1DX, 500 plus 2x, the IQ is superb. Interesting you go for f/8, I've upped it now to f/9-11 subject to SS, but will perhaps revert to f/8 to see the results. Yes I did see the original animated gif with the two branches on the LHS, looks much better without them, good call.

Safe trip Artie.

cheers
Steve

BTW If you use the Gura, do you know if it will take the 200-400, 500f/4 & two 1Dx's, obviously hoods travel separately. Appreciate when you have time, no hurry if you could let me know.

[Arthur Morris]

I use the larger of the two Think Tank bags. Twice took the 600 II, the 200-400, the 70-200, 3 camera bodies, two sets of TCs, and the 24-105. 55 pounds :). I can make sharp images with 600/2X at f/8 but when I do things just right they are noticeably sharper at f/11-13. Did you see the baby Torrent Duck on the blog????

[Steve Kaluski]

Cheers Artie, will take a look, don't want to take the thread now 'Off-Topic'.