Yellow-rumped warbler

[P-A. Fortin]

Another image from a workshop about a month ago. It was quite a nice surprise because a warbler never landed this close to me, and usual they land in very dense vegetation which does not provide with any interesting background. And to add to the "bad luck", my girlfriend was using my 60D/100-400 so I had to borrow some gear. Yeah I know, in another post, I mentioned I was using a 7D with the 400mm f/5.6, but later in the workshop I got the chance to try a different combo: 7D with 300mm f/2.8 IS (I) + 2xIII. I have to say that even though this combo does not seem to be used much by bird photographers (at least I have not seen many mentions), this is something I might consider in the future. Considering the weight and price of the 500 and 600, a used 300mm and the extender would be much cheaper, and would provide me with a 600 f/5.6 that I can actually carry rather easily. Plus the 300 alone is a bomb for birds in flight.

Anyway, since this would still be quite expensive, I'll stick to the 100-400 for a while

Canon 7D, 300mm f/2.8 IS + 2xIII @ f/5.6, ISO 320, 1/1600, Flash 580 ExII ETTL at -1 1/3, cropped for composition, extra catchlight removed and some darkening of the pupil due to some steel eye effect. Very light sharpening applied (USM 40% radius 1.3). Anything stronger looked weird.



I'm still not sure about the composition of this one (actually I am not sure about any composition of any of my images so far. It is a topic I am still not fully comfortable with). I'm also unsure about the processing of the eye. I did not want to darken it too much so the bird would look "dead". Anyway, C&C welcome and appreciated as usual.

[John Chardine]

Hi P.-A., I think you have the basis of a nice image here. There are several options for crop. The one you chose IMO have too much room up top and not enough at the bottom. Try moving the bird up in the frame a bit. A vertical would also work I think. I find crop is something you "feel" and you get better with practise and advice from BPN! The OOF "V" behind the bird's head is distracting- you could tone it down a bit with some judicious cloning or dodging/burning. The eye looks pretty good but I still see some "steel eye" effect there. It affects the pupil only and that is naturally dark except for any catchlights you may have. I would darken the pupil more.

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi P-A., this is a nice capture and excellent comments by John. I find the bird to be very contrasty, and would suggest an adjustment (on only the bird) to lower the contrast. I vote for a vertical with the bird moved up in the frame.

[Ian Cassell]

Hi P-A. I like this guy and I too have all sorts of problems with the little birds. They always hide in the brush and they move fast! This is a nice image. I agree with Kerry that a vertical crop would work well here. He needs a little more room below his tail and not as much above him.

I've been seriously thinking of the 300/2x combo myself. The 500 is out of reach for me and I've seen some great stuff done with that pair (one who uses it that comes to mind is Cheryl Molennor, I think)

[Joel Eade]

I would agree with advice given. I have had no luck with Warblers whatsoever. You did well with exposure and sharpness, I would go with a more vertical crop as well.

[P-A. Fortin]

Thanks for the comments/suggestions. Here's take #2.

Vertical crop, darken the pupil, reduced contrast. The OOF "V" behind the bird however was off my league. Every attempt resulted in very noticeable processing artifacts. Still alot to learn in that department.

[Ian Cassell]

I like this repost a great deal (I might take even a smidge more off the top). Although it would be nice to remove that OOF branch, it is blurred enough that it is not all that objectionable. Good job!

[Kerry Perkins]

Repost looks better P-A., beautiful little bird and I love the pose... The white/yellow/black color combination really looks nice.