Female Redstart

[shane shacaluga]

Was trying to lure a robin out of some bushes this morning with mealworms and in the process this redstart landed in a nearby tree. I had to move around about 20m to be able to get good position as the sun was already up in sky. It only gave me one shot from quite a distance before it flew off

D800e
300f4 + 1.7x TC
f7.1
1/1600
ISO 800
Hand Held

Cloned out another branch on the right. Toned down background and perch and removed red saturation on the berries
Sharpened bird
Original cropped frame is 2600 pixels wide so over 50% crop

Thanks for your comments

[Sandy Witvoet]

Lovely! Excellent work on toning down the berries. Wise move so they don't overpower the bird. For a big crop.... it looks GREAT!

[Daniel Cadieux]

I was going to suggest cropping more but since this is already 50% cropped I say this is a good compromise as the IQ on the subject is just beginning to get affected here.. The berries are a nice touch and they are placed at the perfect spot.

[Arthur Morris]

With the excllent IQ I would suggest a crop from the top to eliminate the extraneous small branches upper left and then a smaller crop from below. Sharp and handsome for a lady....

[arash_hazeghi]

I like the diagonal composition and the berries,sharp. the tail area is showing some noise

I also opt for a tighter crop

[shane shacaluga]

Thanks for all your comments

Will address the points and see how much IQ I can retain with the extra crop

The noise on the tail shadow is an easy fix I think as I did not mask that area when sharpening. Will address that too

Hope to do a repost tonight when I get some time

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Shane, super pose, and I like how the perch flows diagonally through the frame. The little guy is sharp, stands out well from the smooth BG, and the berries add interest. Well captured.

[shane shacaluga]

Thanks Stuart ;)

[shane shacaluga]

Hi all

I have taken your comments into consideration and here is a RP with those in mind

Thoughts please?

[Karl Egressy]

I like the repost better. Excellent IQ and pose.