Silver-eye

[Tony Whitehead]

New Zealand Silver-eye
Nikon D300
Nikon 200-400 @400
ISO400, 1/500s f8
Matrix +0, no flash
I like the warm late afternoon sunlightlight even though it is a bit harsh. Perch is interesting with the lichen but a bit heavy looking. I find sharpening these birds difficult - the discrete barbs of their feathers easily look oversharpened.
Comments and advice appreciated as always

[Keith Carver]

Love this image, Tony, great stance, perch, BG, colors. It does seem a little oversharpened and contrasty, both easily remedied. Beautiful bird!

Also love your town of Rotorua, was there in 1977, remember it and the nearby geothermal springs. Was this bird in the Rotorua area? Is it common?

[Tony Whitehead]

Hi Keith, this was taken in my back garden yesterday - they are quite common.

[Alfred Forns]

Agree with comments Just a little over sharpened. I like the pose, direct look and good bg. The perch sort of overwhelms the little guy Very good image !!

[Simon Bennett]

Very nice close-up with eye contact and detail Tony. I posted a silvereye a while ago and also got oversharpened comments - I think it relates to the coarse barbules which are quite widely spaced. It seems to be a bird where you do need to back-off your usual sharpening formula.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Pretty bird, great light, details and BG. I might go for a wider crop and a tad less sharpening but not much.

[Doug Brown]

I'm with Axel on this one. Sharpening doesn't look particularly overdone Tony. And I'd like to see just a little more room. It's a beautiful bird! Thanks for sharing!

[Tony Whitehead]

Very nice close-up with eye contact and detail Tony. I posted a silvereye a while ago and also got oversharpened comments - I think it relates to the coarse barbules which are quite widely spaced. It seems to be a bird where you do need to back-off your usual sharpening formula.

I agree 100% with you on this Simon - the raw capture often even looks too sharp in comparison to other birds. The interesting thing is that you don't appreciate the texture of their feathers until you've seen a close-up image - it's just not apparent at normal viewing distances

[Raymond Barlow]

really nice image Tony., maybe a little oversharpned, but not much., it looks like you blurred the perch some., i might have left it alone. A very nice looking bird, and I really like the perch.

[Gyorgy Szimuly]

Tony, this is very nice. Details and settings with the soft bg is really cool.
I like everything on it. Keep them posted. :D

Szimi

[Tony Whitehead]

it looks like you blurred the perch some., i might have left it alone. A very nice looking bird, and I really like the perch.

Thanks Raymond - the perch blur is purely a DOF issue as it angles away from the plane of the bird

[Ramon M. Casares]

A bit more room would work better and the perch looks too big for the bird, but this is still an amaziong bird and an amazing shot! Congratulations!