Grace's Warbler

Gallery: AvianPosted July 10, 2010131 views9 comments

I set up a new perch at the waterhole yesterday morning. This one has a lot more surface area for the birds, and several species took right to it. One was this Grace's Warbler. This is a species I had been hoping to get shots of all summer, but they typically stay high in the ponderosa pines and never stop moving. I only had a few seconds with this bird, and in most of the frames he is looking away, but I got a couple good ones.

Canon 7D, 500mm + 1.4x TC, monopod.

1/500, f/6.3, ISO 640

Crop to 54% (9.7 of 18MP), NR on bg, and cloned a small branch at lower left.

Comments and critiques are appreciated. Please view larger version if possible.

Comments

9 comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on July 10, 2010 at 9:20 PM

Terrific! I don't get to see many around Phoenix as they are a sparse migrant. I'd be thrilled to have taken this.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Lee Daniels on July 10, 2010 at 9:49 PM

Very nice, Brian. Don't get to see many in Tucson, either. The plane of focus is a little confusing to me - the in and out of focus areas don't seem to sync up, but probably just my lysdexic visual perception. I'd add this to my files in an instant.

Registered on December 31, 2003, 115 Posts, 1657 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on July 10, 2010 at 11:31 PM

Sweet, Brian. Excellent pose and lighting. I like this perch-it's a bit less dramatic than the other and more natural looking. I might be tempted to clone out the large piece in the ULC.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on July 11, 2010 at 12:02 AM

Great bird with a nice "stick" perch. A little more DOF would have been great

Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on July 11, 2010 at 8:02 AM

Nicely done! I would consider cloning out the branch in the ULHC, but that would be all. Great detail. Thanks for sharing

Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Harbour on July 11, 2010 at 12:19 PM

Great pose, Nice view of a bird I have never seen. Excellent capture.

Registered on January 4, 2008, 113 Posts, 2416 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Balke on July 11, 2010 at 1:59 PM

Beautiful Brian! Great colors and detail. Bird is looking at us with a nice catchlight too. I too would like to see the ULHC branch. However, after you do that you might consider cropping to remove some of the resulting empty space too. At 9.7 MP, with this image I think you have more cropping room without losing detail.

Registered on June 18, 2009, 229 Posts, 2915 Comments

Comment posted by Darren McKenna on July 12, 2010 at 10:53 AM

Very nice image Brian, if you are setting up a perch you could consider a cleaner BG and a perch with vegetation or more interest. I agree with cloning out the distraction in the upper left.

darrenmckenna.com

Registered on October 28, 2008, 31 Posts, 214 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on July 12, 2010 at 7:10 PM

Nice shot, the perch seems to have worked very well and I like the background, well done.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments