White-eyed Vireo

[Gary Irwin]

Here's a White-eyed Vireo from Point Pelee last week. This one was tough to frame. I typically like to leave lots of room around the bird but the background was so busy with all the branches/leaves the bird just got lost so I ended up going with a tight crop.....too tight do you think?

I also cloned out a couple of branches that were crowding the left side of the bird, but I can't do anything about the one leaf that's right in front. (Capture NX2 doesn't really have a clone tool and I refuse to learn PS!)




Nikon D300, 500VR+TC17EII hand held
1/640s f/8.0 at 850.0mm iso200 no flash

C&C appreciated...thanks!

[Tony Whitehead]

That eye really pops, Gary. With that camera/lens combo I would be tempted to work at ISO400 to buy some SS. Toning down the bright branch may be an option with control points in Capture NX2. If you don't use PS with layers and masks there is not much more I can suggest.

[Gary Irwin]

That eye really pops, Gary. With that camera/lens combo I would be tempted to work at ISO400 to buy some SS. Toning down the bright branch may be an option with control points in Capture NX2. If you don't use PS with layers and masks there is not much more I can suggest.

I always try to stick to base ISO on DX because even minimal noise at 400ISO will show up with a heavy crop. Of course there are ways of dealing with moderate noise but I just don't want to have to deal with it! :)

Good tip to tone down the branch...NX2 has the tools for that...it's just missing a good clone tool.

Thanks Tony!

[Joe Senzatimore]

Great bird to capture. Nice with the environment included. This would be any easy PS fix. I think without the leaf in front it would become a very strong image.

[Tony Whitehead]

I always try to stick to base ISO on DX because even minimal noise at 400ISO will show up with a heavy crop. Of course there are ways of dealing with moderate noise but I just don't want to have to deal with it! :)

I prefer dealing with noise than blur from camera shake with long lenses and slow SS :D

[Arthur Morris]

You did well considering the relatively strong light and the rather steep angle to the bird. EXP perfect.

[Raymond Barlow]

Nice one Gary, this is a tough little bird to catch, and you have a nice clean view here, and sharp., f8 gives you nice dof on the bird, but brings in the details of the background.

[Gary Irwin]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions! I'm going to reload CS3 and see if I can clone out that branch...might be worth the effort for this one.

Cheers!