Red Eyed Vireo

[Warren Spreng]

This Vireo kept playing hide and seek with me in the heavy tree cover. Finally popped out into a somewhat open space for me to capture about 10 rapid fire shots and this was the best. IQ is not great as this is about a 40% crop, but loved catching the eye! Canon T3i, Tamron 150 - 600 mm, 600mm, ISO800, f/8, 1/1000 HH, AF. Darkened BG and lightened subject in LR, darkened bright leaf in UL corner.

[Diane Miller]

Nice to catch him (her?) in the open. Exposure and colors look good. I'd suggest removing the triangular piece of limb in the LL corner. There's room to crop it if you don't want to clone.

IQ is obviously lost in a crop, but I think here it is somewhat less than it could be, due to the lens and body. Just as a benchmark, a body like the 1DX and the 600mm II + 1.4X III would potentially (if held steady and focus was good) give a sharper, cleaner image to start with. And with the 2X, less crop would be needed, although it would need a tripod for most mortals. That body gives a very clean capture that needs less noise reduction. I wonder if there is some loss from noise reduction in the bird's feathers. Feathers are probably the second most difficult subject to get clean shots of. The first is stars....

Things I would question as limiting factors are the sharpness of your lens at 600, the accuracy of autofocus and the image quality of the sensor. So to stay in a better range for your equipment, get closer to the subject (but not easy or practical, I know).

Hmmm.... how would your telescope work?

[Warren Spreng]

Nice to catch him (her?) in the open. Exposure and colors look good. I'd suggest removing the triangular piece of limb in the LL corner. There's room to crop it if you don't want to clone.

IQ is obviously lost in a crop, but I think here it is somewhat less than it could be, due to the lens and body. Just as a benchmark, a body like the 1DX and the 600mm II + 1.4X III would potentially (if held steady and focus was good) give a sharper, cleaner image to start with. And with the 2X, less crop would be needed, although it would need a tripod for most mortals. That body gives a very clean capture that needs less noise reduction. I wonder if there is some loss from noise reduction in the bird's feathers. Feathers are probably the second most difficult subject to get clean shots of. The first is stars....

Things I would question as limiting factors are the sharpness of your lens at 600, the accuracy of autofocus and the image quality of the sensor. So to stay in a better range for your equipment, get closer to the subject (but not easy or practical, I know).

Hmmm.... how would your telescope work?

Thanks for pointing out the limb Diane! Yes, getting close is the key with this set up, I think just as it was with my astro imaging equipment I'll need to upgrade eventually to get to another level with these shots! And yes, if I used one of my scopes it would definitely get closer but focusing would be a real chore! 😀

[Sandy Witvoet]

Really nice capture Warren! Certainly nailed that "Red Eye" thing! I'm with Diane about the LLC... and maybe think about the OOF thingy in the URC. A bit busy.... but, HEY... that's where they are! Overall, very nice work!

[Warren Spreng]

Really nice capture Warren! Certainly nailed that "Red Eye" thing! I'm with Diane about the LLC... and maybe think about the OOF thingy in the URC. A bit busy.... but, HEY... that's where they are! Overall, very nice work!

Thanks Sandy! I didn't notice that URC thingy! Thanks, I'll see what I can do with that.

[WillieHall]

Nice bird, you got it where it lives and sometimes thats enough.....good one! A few minor changes as mentioned above should bring out the best.

[Warren Spreng]

Nice bird, you got it where it lives and sometimes thats enough.....good one! A few minor changes as mentioned above should bring out the best.

Thanks Willie!