Black and white warbler

[EricRivera]

Hi, this is my first photo post, this was taken this morning at a reserve near my house. This little fellows migrate here from October to December. Critiques are very welcome:D

Taken with: Canon Eos 7D + 300F4 + flash with BB
Tv 1/640
Av 7.1
Iso 500
Flash -1 1/3
Crop around 50%
NR and Levels in PS

Black and White warbler

[Jeroen Wijnands]

The angle gives me a slight sense of vertigo. I like the capture of the wing movement. The flash seems a bit too obvious for me but I really wouldn't know how to fix that.

[Ray Rozema]

Big welcome to BPN It is a great place to learn and see some great photographs.

The exposure of the bird looks OK No obvious clipping. wing action is interesting and adds The bird looking away detracts. the bid looking toward would help a great deal.

TFS

[EricRivera]

The angle gives me a slight sense of vertigo. I like the capture of the wing movement. The flash seems a bit too obvious for me but I really wouldn't know how to fix that.

This is my first with the flash+BB:o I really need to practice with these to see how this kind of photos looks more natural. Really appreciate you looking and your comment.

Eric

[EricRivera]

Big welcome to BPN It is a great place to learn and see some great photographs.

The exposure of the bird looks OK No obvious clipping. wing action is interesting and adds The bird looking away detracts. the bid looking toward would help a great deal.

TFS

Thanks for the welcome Ray, i see now your point of the bird looking away, two pair of eyes see more than one pair;) I would take that in mind for my next exit:cool:
Thanks for the comment and critique,

Eric

[Julie Kenward]

Eric, welcome to BPN. There are lots of things to learn to create a strong photograph and even more to learn for bird photography in particular! Spend a little time reading critiques here and in the Avian forum and you'll be fixing 95% of the 'little things' in no time.

Now, I'm not a big flash user to take what I have to say with a grain of salt but I only use flash when I absolutely have to. Was this very early morning or very deep shade? If not, always try to find the right exposure without flash and then add it when you have to. Flash will often make the BG go black and that introduces noise into the image (see the grain in the darker areas of your image? That's noise!) There are ways to reduce and/or eliminate noise but a properly exposed image will do most of the work for you.

The position of the bird in the frame is one of the biggest things to concentrate on - you want to capture them as close to the focal plane as you can (meaning the entire bird is an equal distance away from the front of the camera) whenever that is possible. With the angle you have here you will probably get good sharpness on the tail OR the head, but not both. In this image it looks like you got the wing/breast area the most in focus and that left the tail AND the head a bit less sharp. If you have to make a choice, always go for the eye.

There's lots to learn here. Practice, practice, practice, and don't get discouraged. You'll look back on your images in 3-6 months and laugh...I guarantee it! It's amazing how critiquing other people's images will also help you grow - you'll start to see things you never noticed before and it will change the way you photograph.

Let me know if you have any questions and never be afraid to ask what you need to know in order to get better with your opening post.

[EricRivera]

Eric, welcome to BPN. There are lots of things to learn to create a strong photograph and even more to learn for bird photography in particular! Spend a little time reading critiques here and in the Avian forum and you'll be fixing 95% of the 'little things' in no time.

Now, I'm not a big flash user to take what I have to say with a grain of salt but I only use flash when I absolutely have to. Was this very early morning or very deep shade? If not, always try to find the right exposure without flash and then add it when you have to. Flash will often make the BG go black and that introduces noise into the image (see the grain in the darker areas of your image? That's noise!) There are ways to reduce and/or eliminate noise but a properly exposed image will do most of the work for you.

The position of the bird in the frame is one of the biggest things to concentrate on - you want to capture them as close to the focal plane as you can (meaning the entire bird is an equal distance away from the front of the camera) whenever that is possible. With the angle you have here you will probably get good sharpness on the tail OR the head, but not both. In this image it looks like you got the wing/breast area the most in focus and that left the tail AND the head a bit less sharp. If you have to make a choice, always go for the eye.

There's lots to learn here. Practice, practice, practice, and don't get discouraged. You'll look back on your images in 3-6 months and laugh...I guarantee it! It's amazing how critiquing other people's images will also help you grow - you'll start to see things you never noticed before and it will change the way you photograph.

Let me know if you have any questions and never be afraid to ask what you need to know in order to get better with your opening post.

Thanks for the welcome Julie, the photo was taken in deep shade and this was my 1st time with flash in this reserve. How can i avoid using it? If previous visits to this site without using flash i encountered myself shooting ISO 1600, F7.1 to obtain 1/1000th to freeze these little birds, and there are fast. Then i am not happy with the results. Maybe need to try something different, the flash. Can i ask you, how can i do this to be more natural and not so obvious??

Thank you so much for your critique and comments,

Eric