Finally had a chance to photograph this Vireo at Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Ohio on the Lake Erie shore.
This year there seemed to be more people than I have ever seen and most photographers with large lens were relegated to the edges.
Camera Model: Canon EOS 7D
Camera serial number: 470511630
Firmware: Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows
Date/Time: 2011:05:12 10:10:48
Shutter speed: 1/250 sec
Aperture: 6.3
Exposure mode: Av
Exposure compensation: -2/3
Flash: On
Metering mode: Multi-segment
ISO: 400
Lens: EF600mm f/4L IS USM +1.4x
Focal length: 840mm
Subject distance: 10.8 m
Image size: 750 x 600
Rotation: none
Color space: sRGB
Color profile: sRGB IEC61
Quite a beautiful image, Chas. I agree with Gail and also might suggest that you try some different compositions. Having the bird so centered isn't real strong and this image sure is worth some extra work!
THe bird looks pretty neutral on my monitor-not overly bright or dark ! Monitor Apple wide screen !Calibration strip looks OK ! I really hate to overbrighten it, Will run recalibration on my monitor to double check! Certainly the bird is centered but the eye is near the upper junction of thirds and did not intend this to be a habitat shot. Specific suggestions as to position ?
Wonder if Apple monitors are overly bright ?
Regarding the brightness, I wonder if it has to do with color profiles. I copied the image and pasted it in Photoshop and it looks brighter somehow.
Then when I save it with the sRGB color profile and open it on Firefox it looks just as in Photoshop, while the posted image looks a little dark.
Anyway, that's a beautiful bird which I hope to be able to photograph some day. I like the colors, the perch and the pose.
As for a different composition, I would try cropping the top and the left a little to move the bird towards that corner.
Chas, hard to suggest specific compositions - was this cropped to come to your original? One thing that I immediately like better is when I crop from the bottom, to above your signature and eliminate the jagged end of the perch. Let me know what else you've got as far as room.