Red-eyed Vireo.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I got to observe a wave of songbird migration at a local "migrant trap" last week. Lots of activity, a paradise for birders but not so much for photographers as most of the area is dense with heavy tangles of twigs and branches creating many distractions...but once in a while a bird perches in the open, in this case a Red-eyed Vireo that although "out in the open" was still under a pretty neat canopy and backdrop of foliage.

Canon 7D + 500mm f/4 II + 1.4TC, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/200s., f/5.6, ISO 800, natural light, handheld, full-frame, the red iris enhanced via dodge, sponge, and brush tool (looked almost dark brown in the low light). The larger oof leaf above the shoulder was originally grey - changed it to green for a better flow of the shapes and colours of the BG.

[Deirdre Sheerr-Gross]

Nice shot given your very challenging conditions!

This little one jumps off the page with your editing.
The oof leaves and soft focus back end of bird, setoff the clarity and sparkle of this Verio!

[David Salem]

Nice looking pose with a direct stare and the sideways posturing. Good look at the red eye too. Looks like you were pretty close as the DOF is limited but I like that as it really concentrates my view to the head.
You sure get allot of migrant songbirds thru Ottawa!! Nice frame Daniel

[Miguel Palaviccini]

I'm usually not a fan of leaves, twigs, etc coming out from the sides of the frame, but in this case I think it's a great addition to the scene. Neat image!

[Enrique Patino]

I like it. It would make for an awesome painting ... ;)

[Satish Ranadive]

Spectacular image of beautiful bird, Daniel Sir.
Very nice pose with fine details and beautiful red eye. Superb backdrop and composition.

Regards,
Satish.

[Jim Crosswell]

Excellent image Daniel! I like the setting, exposure, details, red eye and composition. OOF BG gives the Vireo a 3D effect.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Daniel , very nice image of this nicely framed bird , with very cool IQ for the techs given , man you must be very steady .
I very much like how you processed this image with all the subtle tones and colors , excellent job .

TFS Andreas

[Richard Flack]

Hi Dan, I like how this image makes the viewer focus on the red eye after which the species is named. I also really like the natural framing and find it pleasing to the eye. Cool image. IQ is great and I personally would not change anything. TFS

[Richard Flack]

Another quick note... glad you posted it here as Facebook does not do it justice. Cheers. Rich

[Binu John]

Simply beautiful! The colors, pose, BG and POV are excellent! Exposure is spot on as usual. It's not easy to lock the focus on the head while these little birds are moving. Well done!

[mohammad reza shahab]

Hi Daniel
Nice looking pose.excellent colors,BG,composition and details.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Thanks a bunch guys! Richard, yes, facebook really mangles images at times

[Binu John]

Thanks a bunch guys! Richard, yes, facebook really mangles images at times

Hi Daniel,
One workaround is to upload png instead of jpg. Save the image as png-24 using the "save for web" option in PS to keep the file size below 1 GB. This works only for Facebook Pages.