Nikon D300, 200-400 with 1.7x, ISO 800, About 80% full frame
I added a little extra sharpening to this one since some felt the other was a little soft. Hopefully I didn't overdo it. This one was taken just a few seconds after the earlier one--the first was perched on a cypress knee, this one at the nest site.
This is a very interesting image design and you did as well as possible (without flash). I have several problems with this image (some of them related to one another...) The merge of the bird's breast with the edge of the nest tree would have been acceptable if the whole scene had been shaded. I recommend not pressing the shutter button in filtered light... As the bit of sun struck the tree right behind the bird, there is a loss of contrast between the bird and the tree. In addition, the sun is on the green thing (caterpillar?) that the bird has in its bill, and with the sunlit area right behind the bill you cannot discern the details.
It is amazing how many ways filtered light can screw up an otherwise lovely image. Using lots of flash (zero or -1/3) in the situations can help even out the light but I still do not like filtered light...
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Beautiful bird and the green BG contrast with it nicely. It would have been nice to get the bird completely int he green BG as he.she hung onto the tree. The beak merge and lose of detail is distracting.
Prothopnotary Warbler #2
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