An abnormal but self-pleasing look at the Cedar Waxwing

[Jack Breakfast]

Greetings folks,
this was taken with a Canon 7D and 70-300L at 300mm. iso800, 1/500, 5.6. cropped from both sides for composition. I'm terribly fond of this shot but recognize its problematic weirdnesses. Not problematic for me, but perhaps for some. I will heartily welcome your comments and suggestions. As always, I thank you sincerely for your time spent and consideration given.
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[Randy Stout]

Jack:

I like the soft light, colors, BG.

The OOF foreground and cut off tails detract for me.

Images with OOF birds in the background can work. I think the first two birds work OK, would prefer less merge with the rear two.

I would also consider cropping down from the top a bit.

Cheers

Randy

[Satish Ranadive]

I like this very artistic and beautiful image of Waxwing.
Love the great details and colors.Agree with Randy Sir about crop.

Regards,
Satish.

[Jack Breakfast]

Thanks for writing in, folks. I view the white blurry bar at photo's bottom as a plus and not a minus, personally, but I do see your point, Randy. Any other takers? O prithee do chime in!

[Ofer Levy]

If you happy with this image this is the most important thing. IMHO the pose and eye contact are very nice so is the BG. Image looks sharp too. However, the composition is not working for me and I don't like the oof birds. The white blurry bar is not great either.

[Davidwilliams]

everything works ok for me apart from the bottom which imo detracts and spoils an otherwise ok image

[Jack Breakfast]

Very good, folks. I am unsurprised that most folks would not be fans of the image's bottom. Different strokes, of course and always. I certainly appreciate your opinions, many thanks...

[Daniel Cadieux]

I like that you were thinking outside the box, but I'm on the fence too. Waxwings are highly social birds and it does show how they like to hang out together. The first two birds work well, the other two not as much. The bottom part is not ideal IMO either. Were these guys relax? Could you have moved right and higher for more separation between the four indivduals and bottom white part without spooking them?

[Miguel Palaviccini]

I agree with the above. The OOF on the bottom is a tad distracting. I don't mind the overlap between the subjects, but would like to see a bit more NR for the background.

[Jack Breakfast]

Good question, Daniel. I dit move up and to the right and DID spook them. Luckily I took plenty of shots of them in various settings. Worked all the angles, so to speak. At first I was spooking them, but soon I learned how to stay near them without giving offense or alarm!

[laurie golden]

Jack,

I do like the nice and sharp waxwing in the front followed by three very out of focus birds that look like they are all together in a group, each keeping watch in different directions. I'm on the fence with the white bar. I like that it is white and not some other color because of the white in the birds. I wish that the white on the left looked more like the right - guess I might have changed that in PS. I keep looking for my waxwings but they have not showed up yet.

[Jack Breakfast]

Laurie, many thanks for your comments. It seems we like the same things about this picture. Great minds? Well, yours is pretty great. Mine is generally flummoxed and ghostly. Moving on, it's an interesting point you make RE the lack of uniformity on the left & right sides of the white bar. Forsooth, it will behoove me to address this issue! I'll have a look at that in PS. PS: You'll get your waxwings...I can't wait for wintertime and bohemian waxwings. Hopefully...