Arctic Warbler

Gallery: AvianPosted December 9, 2015119 views5 comments

Canon 1D-X, 500mm f4 x 1.4 TC, handheld
f9, 1/800, ISO500

The males of this species migrate to Alaska from the Phillipine Islands to the southern slopes of the Alaska Range, hit a branch on territory and immediately start singing. Extraordinary. And the eastern end of the Denali Highway has to be the best place in the world to photograph this species.

Full frame. Slight selective sharpening.

C & C, please. Thanks for looking.

Comments

5 comments

Comment posted by Cay-Uwe Kulzer on December 9, 2015 at 1:00 AM

Jim,

I like the soft light and of course the singing pose. I alsolike that the head is at the abrighter area of the picture since beacause of that it stands out very well. Technically you managed to make a good job. You may choose to crop to a 4:3 format which nearly would eliminate the branches at the right site. That would benefit the overall composition and focus more on the very nice bird.

Registered on January 27, 2004, 494 Posts, 4021 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on December 9, 2015 at 9:03 AM

Excellent detail in the warbler, Jim, and interesting natural history. It would really be interesting to find out how that migration track evolved. Do you know if there's a closely related species across the Bering Strait?

The branch on the right doesn't bother me too much, but you certainly have the pixels for a crop like Cay-Uwe suggested.

devil

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

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on December 9, 2015 at 11:59 AM

I lie this as presented and would not crop the branches on te right side - they are part of the strory IMO.

Nice technicals; good pose and light.

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

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on December 9, 2015 at 3:02 PM

Very nice image Jim. The larger version really shows off the details in this small bird. I don't mind the branches on the right at all. They add to the environment for this image. Things like that don't always work for me, but in this case, I like them.

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments

Comment posted by Neil Rossmiller on December 10, 2015 at 3:39 PM

Nice work.
That's a whole lot of focal length to hand hold, Jim. Your technique looks rock solid. Nicely accomplished image with a pleasing background and a color change line that leads the eye right back to the warbler, where it convientally buldges. I like this crop better than the previous 80% version in your gallery even though it holds up quite well at that magnifacation. The added twig frames the AW very naturally with some added envronmental interest and visual texture.
That lens setup sure has a nice boquet.

Registered on October 30, 2009, 156 Posts, 749 Comments