Warbling Vireo

[Gail Spitler]

Hi All
Spurred by Alfred's suggestions about soft light, I headed out on a very cloudy Saturday, late in the afternoon after the sun had ducked behind the local mountains. Further staying with the soft theme, I got some images of a Warbling Vireo - a bird of subdued color to say the least.
The lack of light forced me to use ISO 800 so I'll be interested in comments about PP and all other suggestions too.

Thanks very much for looking.
Gail

Canon 40D handheld at ISO 800 with EF 100-400 at 400, f/5.6, eval metering with 0 compensation

[Harold Davis]

bird looks great, gail!! perfect exposure. it does seem too centered in the frame. would crop from the right and top a little.

[Nicki Gwynn Jones]

Hi Gail, I really love the soft colours and feel of this image - it seems totally appropriate for this sweet little bird. Might be tempted to crop a little from the right side and the bottom of the picture and the eye looks a little soft. Beautiful - well done!!

[Nonda Surratt]

What a lovely little bird and I do like the soft colors, agree on the crop..Fine job Gail!

[Gail Spitler]

Hi All
Couldn't agree more about the crop. In fact, as soon as I posted it, I was scrolling up on my monitor and realized ...oh, could have cropped that a bit lower. The suggestion for taking a bit off the right is well taken.
The soft eye just might be a chance to try the Sharpening Tool in PSE 6

Thanks guys. To quote Nonda, this is gobsmacking great (whatever gobsmacking is). I am learning a ton!!
Gail

[Lance Peters]

Hi Gail - agree with the above - a little bit of a crop - a bit of a eye sharpen and its all good.

Good job
;)

[Alfred Forns]

You guys are sharp Fully agree !!! Excellent exposure Gail !!!

[Oscar Zangroniz]

Hi Gail, do agree with the comments regarding the crop. Nice exposure

[Katie Rupp]

Nice soft light and good exposure, Gail.

[Desmond Chan]

Other than as suggested above, I would do something to "separate" the throat of the bird from the leave right in the background. Perhaps selectively sharpen the bird to make it stand out from the leaves more. I find the leaves quite dominant here because of their sizes and the color.

[Gail Spitler]

Other than as suggested above, I would do something to "separate" the throat of the bird from the leave right in the background. Perhaps selectively sharpen the bird to make it stand out from the leaves more. I find the leaves quite dominant here because of their sizes and the color.

Desmond I agree the bird doesn't pop out from the background. I am mulling about whether it can, or actually needs to. In some ways, not popping out from the leaves is perfect for a Warbling Vireo. They are usually in dense canopy, gleaning insects and are hard to spot. They sing lots, so you know they are there, just can't see them. I feel that I was lucky to get one out in the open like this. The other thing I worry about is noise as I was already at ISO 800.
Your point is well taken though and I appreciate the comments.
Cheers
Gail

[Sharna Lee]

Hi Gail,
What a great capture. These things ARE hard to spot. You did wonderful. I agree with the crop suggestions and maybe a little sharpening of the eye but other than that I love the lighting and the overall feel of this image.

Sharna