MacGillivray's Warbler

[Dennis_Plank]

I was looking through images for the “Favorites of 2019” weekly challenge and realized that I’d only processed one of the images I took of this bird back in August. Since it’s the only time I’ve ever seen one and it was pretty cooperative, that seemed like pretty short-shrift. My only excuse is that the day I took this was a very good and active day at my blind and pools so I had a lot of images to choose from for processing.

What technical feedback would you like if any?

Anything. I sharpened and increased exposure of the bird and perch relative to the rest of the image and added some blur to the background-does it still look reasonably natural?

What artistic feedback would you like if any?

Anything. Is the background too busy?

Pertinent technical details or techniques:

7DII, Sigma 150-600 C @ 600 mm, tripod with ball head and Sidekick, f/8, 1/640, iso 2000, fill flash at -2 1/3 EV, manual exposure. Processed in LR & PS CC. Cropped to 4696 x 3084 pixels before resizing for the web. Taken at 2:48 pm on August 16th.

If you would like your image to be eligible for a feature on the NPN Instagram (@NaturePhotoNet), add the tag ‘ig’ and leave your Instagram username below.

You may only download this image to demonstrate post-processing techniques.

[Allen_Brooks]

A beauty. Great detail and the warbler really pops against an interesting background.

[Shirley_Freeman]

I see nothing wrong with any part of this image, Dennis. As Allen pointed out, the warbler really does pop against a very interesting background. By brightening the bird and perch, and not the background, it really does call attention to the subject. Wonderful details in the bird.

[David_Schoen]

Wonderful environmental feel to this. I like the colors, detail, and of course the setting.

[Allen_Sparks]

Hi Dennis, I’ll agree with the others that the bird pops nicely in this image. Detail and color on the bird are terrific. I like the overall environment of this image too. Well done.