Kathleen Colligan
January 2020 - Blue-headed Vireo
About the Image(s)
Attached is a photo I took 12/21/19 on a morning bird watching trip at 6 Mile Cypress Preserve, Fort Myers FL
This Blue-headed Vireo photo was taken with my Sony Rx10IV at ISO 125 F4.0 and 1/500sec . I used Lightroom to do some minor adjustments.
This round’s discussion is now closed!
6 comments posted
What an exquisite shot! The eye and head of the bird are the focus of this image. The background is beautifully handled - nothing distracts from the main subject. The branch is at a pleasing angle and the soft colouring of bird and background match well and all of it make this a very pleasing image.
What could possibly be improved? I would try and sharpen the wings and body of the bird, if it's possible. It's not a real issue as the eye and the head of the bird are quite sharp. I would also try and crop the right hand side of the image a tiny bit to make the bird less central.
Even without the changes it is a very beautiful image. Posted: 01/07/2020 23:55:54
What could possibly be improved? I would try and sharpen the wings and body of the bird, if it's possible. It's not a real issue as the eye and the head of the bird are quite sharp. I would also try and crop the right hand side of the image a tiny bit to make the bird less central.
Even without the changes it is a very beautiful image. Posted: 01/07/2020 23:55:54
Kathleen Colligan
Thank you , Ruth, for your constructive and helpful comments. I see exactly what you mean about slight cropping and will go back to the photo to try sharpening wings and body too. Posted: 01/08/2020 05:29:15
I agree. Very nicely done. The soft background, produced with shallow depth of field I assume, allows the bird to really pop. Nice catchlight in the eye. The head of the bird is nice, and as Ruth noted, there is a little softness in the bird and I wonder if a touch of sharpening might work. Since everything else is sharp I wonder if what you have is a bit of motion blur from a twitchy subject! Posted: 01/08/2020 07:53:21
Hi Kathleen
nice shot indeed , i have a suggestion towards your EXIF , for birding i typically use f/8 aperture thats 2 full stops higher , I observe your ISO is 125 , which you can comfortably take upto 400 ( 2 full stops higher) and had got same exposure , but your image ( bird) would have looked much sharper .
Please try the f/8 aperture next time, I usually keep my ISO on Auto for birding ,and use Av mode to shoot , so the camera maintains the aperture and automatically adjust's the ISO and shutter based on your subjects movement and available light , My other settings are Ev -0.3 or even -0.7 , Metering mode - Centre weighted.
Regards
Prasad Posted: 01/11/2020 20:54:00
nice shot indeed , i have a suggestion towards your EXIF , for birding i typically use f/8 aperture thats 2 full stops higher , I observe your ISO is 125 , which you can comfortably take upto 400 ( 2 full stops higher) and had got same exposure , but your image ( bird) would have looked much sharper .
Please try the f/8 aperture next time, I usually keep my ISO on Auto for birding ,and use Av mode to shoot , so the camera maintains the aperture and automatically adjust's the ISO and shutter based on your subjects movement and available light , My other settings are Ev -0.3 or even -0.7 , Metering mode - Centre weighted.
Regards
Prasad Posted: 01/11/2020 20:54:00
Kathleen Colligan
Thank you for your advice. I worry about noise in bird photos so often keep the ISO lower and use lower F stop to blur the background. My camera was set to aperture priority but know shutter priority might be a better option for moving objects like birds. I am going to experiment this week using your suggestons and see what happen. Posted: 01/12/2020 05:18:25
Laurie McShane
This is so lovely. I don't know that there is anything else that I could add to the conversation, and agree with what has already been said. Beautifully done! Posted: 01/12/2020 17:45:36