Prothonotary Warbler

[Ronald Zigler]

I did not shoot in the manual mode (I used shutter priority), but this time I pre-set the ISO at 800 to avoid too high of an ISO setting. This bird was hopping in and out of the shade, so I thought ISO 800 would be best. Following this bird through the tree to get an unobstructed view of it was very challenging. I have two images I would have liked to post, but since I can only post one at a time, I will go with this one. The bird's head in this image is turned down slightly thereby catching a bit more shade, but the beak and the insect the bird has just caught are reasonably sharp. My other image has the bird's head turned up, which catches some sunlight providing the head more illumination in a soft glow, but the insect is not quite a sharp (or as easily recognizable as an insect). These kind of trade-offs on image quality make selecting images difficult for me. I am not sure whether I should try to lighten the shadows in this image any more than I have.

Canon 60D, 300mm f4 L + 1.4x @ 1/1250, f5.6, ISO 800, HH

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Ron,

I like the picture but love your narrative, the way you selected the picture based on the HA, light, subject is great - you are providing a nice critique and controlling the frame. I like the composition and the feather detail looks sharp. Regarding the eye, generally speaking a clean well lit eye can make a picture much stronger but there are trade-offs if the counter is compelling. I might lighten the eye and crop a cleaner edge on the left side. On balance - I like the picture,.. the flowers and complementary background make a nice combination. Keep em coming.

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi Ron (is it ok to use that truncation of your name?) The biggest issue with this image is the perch. There is so much foliage there that it competes with the subject. There are two things to consider - the eye is drawn to light and to detail. The area under the bird is both bright and detailed, so there is a conflict of interest there.

[Ronald Zigler]

Yes, please, most people do call me Ron. I agree with you. I also note that the legs of the bird are a bit lost in the foiliage. I guess its one of those images that simply represents my best image yet of this particular bird. Hopefully, I may get another chance to improve on it. Having the experience of trying to photograph such a bird in a tree, it certainly makes me wonder how photographers get some of those pristine images I've seen (if they are not using a prepared perch and recorded call). After I found this bird in the tree, I eventually tried a recorded call to draw him closer. It did not wok this time.