Female Red-Winged Blackbird Singin Away

[Melissa Groo]

Canon 1D Mark IV
Gitzo/Wimberley
From a blind

700mm
ISO 800
1/2500 sec
f/5.6

I miss being on here but now that spring is in full swing, every available moment I have I am out shooting. This is from this morning. The female RWBBs just came back a couple days ago, and I took advantage of a blind I have up at a pond to get some shots of her singing. Once nesting gets underway, I rarely see the females at all.
I know it's not the most exciting bird, but one of my passions is showcasing the beauty of birds many consider commonplace and don't take the time to capture. I hope you like it.
Thanks so much in advance for all comments and critiques.

[Bonnie Block]

She has attitude, Melissa! Love the details and the pose!

[jack williamson]

Love the energetic singing pose, well exposed and sharp. the BG is awesome. I would like to see this as a vertical with more of the cattail showing or at least more room top and bottom of this one.

[dankearl]

I like the females better than the males.
Great BG and classic pose.

[Thanaboon Jearkjirm]

Maybe common in your area but I never this bird before :)
Love the call pose, excellent sharpness and details, beautiful background as well. Agree that vertical crop might work as well.

[Grace Scalzo]

Always nice when the ladies return. (The bird and you. :w3). I love her singing pose and grip on the cattail. The light and background are certainly sweet. I might play with the comp and see how a trim from the left grabs you.

[Troy Lim]

Most of the time, we see the male, rarely the female, :) one of the species that many neglected to photograph but you have captured the singing pose very well.

[PhilCook]

Must of been a good song as she seems to be singing her heart out, Great clean and sharp shot, although I think another pass of sharpening could be added. Love the com on the seed head and smooth earthy backdrop.....if I was to be picky I'd suggest it to be even better if the eyes were directed more towards the camera

[Melissa Groo]

Ok, here's another go, this time a vertical, and with a bit more sharpening. Thanks for all the feedback!

[Daniel Cadieux]

I'm really digging the singing pose Melissa, this gal is trying her best at imitating her male counterparts it seems! Nice perch, BG. I do prefer the toned down highlights of the OP, and for the vertical the subject would need to be higher in the frame IMO. Having said this, I do prefer the OP's comp, but I agree in trimming a bit at left. I would also work on the reflection on the eye as it seems a tad odd to me. Details look good to me! Very nice overall...

[Doug Brown]

Like the singing pose and the excellent detail. Better eye contact would have improved the image. And I would include more of the perch in your crop.

[Satish Ranadive]

Magnificent singing pose you have captured. Love the pose with slightly raised wings and fanned tail. Bg colors are nicely complimenting with birds colors.
I like the re post with vertical crop.

Regards,
Satish.

[mohammad reza shahab]

excellent detail,perch,BG and very nice singing pose.

[MohsenVahedipour]

Excellent pose, perch & BG. Agree with above comments about crop suggestions.

[Melissa Groo]

Thanks all, for the excellent, useful feedback as usual. Here's one last repost, with some cropped off left, more of perch showing, perch toned down a bit, and the eye clouding removed. I also removed the tip of the reed as it bugged me being in line with the wing.

[James Shadle]

I'm not saying this is better or worse, I prefer the vertical composition because of the perch.
The balance is not what I would choose due to working with less perch than I would desire.
My point is I don't mind a body on the tight side if the head / eyes are looking into the negative space.
Just food for thought.127904