Eastern Bluebird

Fantastic perch. As for the loss of quality, I'm not sure I see much of a "loss" but I don't know how the Canon 2X tele is. From what I've read the Nikon isn't too sharp. . .

Cheryl,

I like how the bluebird picked the palm to land on, the alert pose and the nice blues.

It doesn't look as shapr as most of your images do, but I think that might be from the slow shutter speed. I probably would have increased my ISO to get a tad more SS.

Still a nice bluebird image.

Nice head turn and the perch is great. The colors look good as does the composition. Well done.

I shoot almost 100% of my bird photos with a 300/2.8 and matched 2x converter - the Nikon one that Luke keeps claiming isn't too sharp without any experience with it. Yes, it reduces image quality compared to the 300 alone or the 300 with the 1.4x which I also have. But if you have good long lens technique you can get professional level results from the combination. As Mia suggests you might have gotten better results using a higher ISO so you could have shot at a faster shutter speed, or stopped down more. What tripod and head did you use for this? Is it solid enough for 600mm?

Another possible issue is the light you were working with - it looks on the soft side and that means the image will have lower contrast and thus look less sharp.

I like this image - the unusual setting is quite interesting. The soft light has kept the shadows from blocking up as well.

Gorgeous little bird in a neat setting. Interesting that the bird is framed by the palm.
Very nice as posted.
May

Very nice and fairly unusual setting Cheryl and I do like that pose. I too think that you can get sharper images with that combo. My experience is that new gear, esp if it increases your focal length, can take time to develop the technique that produces the best results. I can't recall ever seeing a comment on one of Rich's images that it wasn't sharp enough.

Thanks all for the critiques and suggestions. I usually use my 2x converter and though it was good till this set of frames. The images shot at 500 looked noisy to me and I was also farther away which is why I picked this image to work on and submit. It was also the only one with this pose.so Richard I think you have something on the low light. It was very cloudy and windy that day .I use a solid Manfrotto tripod and I got a new larger head to handle my lens but parked it ont grass perhaps not real stable. I was so excited about this shoot till I saw the images on the computer. Just felt they were either soft or noisy.

Great pose and perch Cheryl. I like that head turn. I would not think you should have any problems with a 2X converter and that lens if you use good technique. I think the low light was the culprit here.

I think that the 2X will be much better use on sunny days. I have good results in the sunshine with the Nikon version.

No nits from me its a fine image even with the 2x.

Nice one

Beautiful composition with that angled bg and the neat textures, Cheryl.

I love the the explosive colors of the bird against the muted colors of the perch. Very cute pose. There is still quite a bit of detail there so I wouldn't despair. I would love to have this shot in my porfolio.

I like the bird as framed, Cheryl. Really nice composition and color!
I also find it hard to take sharp pics with this combo and dull light, but this image is fine

Cheryl, I like this. Was this Hand Held? I have worked with the 300 2.8 with the 2x and have found it to be a very sharp combo. I fact I was so happy with it I wish I could afford to own that combo, so I am a bit suprised to see you think the combo is not sharp. You need to be very steady to get sharp images with that combo and at 1/250 if you were not using a tripod the small loss of detail might have been due to camera shake.

Nice one Cheryl - I like the contrast between the bird and the background.

cheers
Rob

Thanks everyone for the great comments. I had a great day today with the extender and great lightso I do believe that the poor overcast light was the culprit. I am happy again with my extender LOL.

This is a wonderful perch site. I agree with minor nits. Very nice sighting though.

I really like this composition Cheryl. This is a lovely looking bird captured in an interesting environment. I sold my x2 convertor soon after I bought it - couldn't get use to focusing with it. Graham