Hermit Warbler

[Dorian Anderson]

A new species for my collection!! I caught up with this range-restricted warbler in Southern Oregon last week. The bird was singing above
my backcountry campground, and I used audio to enticed it down from the high coniferous canopy is usually occupies. Perch is natural
(i.e. not set-up). Bluetooth speaker is hung out of frame to the left.

For those unfamiliar with audio, I'll tell you its incredibly fun and challenging. The trick is to get the bird onto a good perch and then
stop the audio so that the bird stays put for the time it takes me to get the lens up and square the subject in the viewfinder. 99 times out
of 100, I'm too slow. It's why, when working as a guide, I'm rather envious of my clients; they need only shoot while I handle the audio.
Doing it alone is much, much harder. That's why I'm stoked with this result. This is certainly one of the lesser-photographed North American
wood warblers.

Still getting the hang of this new monitor, so feedback is appreciated. Interestingly, I spoke with Doug Brown, who suffered the same
sharpness issue I am now suffering (http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php/138037-Happy-Thanksgiving!?highlight=).
So, it's good to know I'm not crazy and my machine is working fine. I've already found ways to manage the issue, so I'm hoping it won't be
a problem moving forward.

Canon 600mm f/4 IS II + 1.4x III on EOS R5
1/1000 at f/5.6, ISO 1600
Processed in LR CC

• Canon EOS R5
• EF600mm f/4L IS II USM +1.4x III
• ƒ/5.6
• 840mm
• 1/1000s
• ISO 1600
• dorian anderson
• Sat, 17 June 2023 6:59 AM
• dorian anderson
• Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 12.3 (Macintosh)

 

[kevin Hice]

What a beautiful image Dorian. I have never even heard of a Hermit warbler. You caught a great image of this guy. Background is nice being dark just makes the bird pop. Maybe a few small hot spots in the yellows. I have the same issues multiplied. Processing looks good no sharpness problems here.

 

[Steve Kaluski]

A sweet capture Dorian, but for me the PP just kills it.

It's way to saturated, there is no real detail in the head, just a yellow bob, blacks are clipped, (I assume you are still on Adobe Colour) and the little needle clipping the tail is a lille unfortunate, but an easy fix in PS now. If you get the monitor sorted correctly it will be a great help, but remember, if you monitor has options ie Calibrated, Adobe, sRGB don't have it set to sRGB, you need it configured for Photography with it's own Industry standards and calibrated.

TFS
Steve

 

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Dorian ... oh very nice warm light and a attractive subject . Does stand out nicely from the BG ...
Overall it does look very good ( I think ) .... just the strong dark tones in the subject aren't ideal for me personally .
And I am surprised that you accept the quite " busy " perch ... :bg3: .... was it not possible to guide him to a better one :t3:w3.

Nice one and TFS Andreas

 

[Dorian Anderson]

A repost with a few tweaks. I agree, the head was oversaturated.

Not gonna bother cloning the needle that intersects the tail. Reality is sometimes enough.

I like this perch precisely because it's imperfect (and hence doesn't look like a set-up, which it wasn't).

• Canon EOS R5
• EF600mm f/4L IS II USM +1.4x III
• ƒ/5.6
• 840mm
• 1/1000s
• ISO 1600
• dorian anderson
• Sat, 17 June 2023 6:59 AM
• dorian anderson
• Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 12.3 (Macintosh)

 

[Arthur Morris]

A very nice image of a rarely photographed (or even seen) species.

I am pretty sure that I have mentioned this before but with the BOLD type you are using your signature is very distracting to me

with love, arite

 

[Brian Sump]

Dorian, such a great experience to get a new species like this to interact via audio.

Beautiful image design. Love the diagonal pines with the dark backdrop. So kind of him to give you a parallel body pose too.

The repost is a vast improvement so nice going there. If the lighter parts of the wings and belly aren't really that gray IRL then perhaps some selective dodging could enhance it a bit.

Congrats man, really nice!

 

[Jonathan Ashton]

Dorian the repost is much better, I would have been tempted to go further, I get the impression that a lighter hand in the processing area is required. (Have you checked Color settings tab?)

 

[Daniel Cadieux]

Yep, repost much better, glad you worked it more. Quite similar in general to the much more common Black-throated Green Warbler! Yep, audio is fun to use, but can be challenging as well.

Arash did provide a bit of advice on your initial post with the new monitor (the Cliff Swallow one), maybe worth a peak if not already:

http://www.birdphotographers.net/fo...f-Swallow-(major-posting-problem-help-needed)