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Thread: Cape May Warbler among Cherry Blossoms

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    Default Cape May Warbler among Cherry Blossoms

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    Canon 7D, 70-200 f/4 +1.4x III @ 280mm; f/5.6, 1/160s, ISO 800. Manual Exposure. RAW image cropped, NR, slight sharpening in LR; Levels, sharpening in CS5. Shot 6:15pm, overcast skies.
    What else might I do to improve this high-key image?
    Last edited by Steve Wasson; 05-24-2011 at 05:13 PM.

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    BPN Viewer Sachin Saraf's Avatar
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    Beautiful Image!

    The flowers in the frame make it even more interesting...Exposure is spot on and the pose is also very nice.

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    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    Quite loverly. Love the flowers, the soft light, and the high key look. Wonderfully sharp. With more above and below, a vertical might have been a contest winner.

    The only distractions for me are the dark bit of branch behind the mid-back and the few nubs on the branches. All of those could go if you wish.
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    BPN Member Steve Maxson's Avatar
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    Hi Steve. Excellent sharpness and exposure. I like Artie's idea of a vertical comp - I would wish for a little more room at the top so those 2 blossoms weren't clipped.

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    Super Moderator Daniel Cadieux's Avatar
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    I too would prefer seeing the complete flowers above rather than being clipped. I do wish the leaf wasn't touching the tail tip, but the image works remarkably well overall!

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    BPN Member Bill Dix's Avatar
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    Sweet shot. Good comments above re. composition, but this is a winner in my book. Amazing you could get close enough to get this guy at 280mm. Are Minnesota warblers tamer than New Jersey ones?

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    Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I'll try to implement them in a repost tomorrow.

    Re. Minnesota Warblers... Bill, I honestly don't know if we have any that stay here. I'm new to warblers this year. We had about 10 different varieties that spent a week + in the park/creek behind our house as they migrated through. Only a couple visited our yard. They were NOT tame. I took over 1000 pics, very few were keepers.

    This is the only Cape May I saw this spring. He feasted on the cherry blossoms for hours a day. The he discovered the Grape Jelly, I put out for the Orioles. Then the apple tree... Alas, he's moved north for the summer...
    I started out 15' from the tree, hand-holding my camera in shooting position. Whenever he'd move to a branch where I was hid from view, I take a step forward, until I was only 3' from the tree. The cramps were worth it!
    Last edited by Steve Wasson; 05-24-2011 at 10:31 PM.

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    Forum Participant christopher galeski's Avatar
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    very nice Steve,nice colors,blossom make this shot for me.thanks.

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    BPN Member Bill Dix's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Wasson View Post
    Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I'll try to implement them in a repost tomorrow.

    Re. Minnesota Warblers... Bill, I honestly don't know if we have any that stay here. I'm new to warblers this year. We had about 10 different varieties that spent a week + in the park/creek behind our house as they migrated through. Only a couple visited our yard. They were NOT tame. I took over 1000 pics, very few were keepers.

    This is the only Cape May I saw this spring. He feasted on the cherry blossoms for hours a day. The he discovered the Grape Jelly, I put out for the Orioles. Then the apple tree... Alas, he's moved north for the summer...
    I started out 15' from the tree, hand-holding my camera in shooting position. Whenever he'd move to a branch where I was hid from view, I take a step forward, until I was only 3' from the tree. The cramps were worth it!
    Thanks for the explanation. Your patience was certainly well rewarded -- this is a really lovely capture. The only Cape May I've seen this year was high up in a tree.

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    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    Steve, There are surely some warblers that stay to breed by you. Check the range maps in a good guide and then learn the songs. Then see Dan's article on luring them in with playback.
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    Here is a repost attempting to incorporate your suggestions... removed distractions; recropped, including more above & below. There is a little more image below, but unfortunately there was a another bunch of flowers between me & the bird's perch that shows as OOF white cast...
    I'm just not sure how to incorporate the flowers above in a way that doesn't cut off at least one flower. Does the branch edge cause problems for you? (Oh, and I "cheated" by moving that top flower bunch a bit to the right.)
    Last edited by Steve Wasson; 05-25-2011 at 11:12 AM.

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    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    I do like the extra flowers above!
    BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.

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    I too love the extra flowers above Steve.. what a pretty setting this..

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    BPN Member Bill Dix's Avatar
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    Once again, let me say that I REALLY love this image, all the more because of my on-going struggle with warblers. I might have considered something like this. Cropped a bit off the top and right (and removed a stray piece of leaf), and added a slivver of canvas to the left to reposition the bird.

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    Super Moderator Daniel Cadieux's Avatar
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    The image in pane #11 is excellent...way to go on the repost!! To answer your question, the branch edge does not bother me.

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    Lifetime Member Stu Bowie's Avatar
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    Steve, pane#11 is a winner all the way. Great setting, and the yellow's of the warbler against the high key and white flowers stand out so well. I also like the angled pose too.

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