Ring Ousel

[keith mitchell]

Nikon D4
Nikon 300ml 2.8
1/250@f8
ISO 250.

ISO 250? forgot to change my settings:e3

Lucky enough to be able to get a few shots of this visitor to the UK ,this bird migrates from Southern Spain and North Africa and the Atlas mountains in Morocco to breed on the hills in Northern England and Scotland. We do get a few moving up the coast of Lincolnshire in the spring on the way up to their breeding grounds but never been able to get a picture.
Did clone out a few bits on the b/g hope I have not been too clumsy with the clone tool.

Thanks for taking a look and your comments and tips on my last post.
Cheers Keith

[christopher galeski]

nice one Keith,sharp with good detail,like the pattern in the perch,would take this image up a notch if the head was turned a bit more towards us,but stil a nice image.well done.

[Randy Stout]

Keith:

Sharp, well exposed, good dof. The perch is so good that I find myself caught up in all its patterns and details, and perhaps not giving the bird its full attention.

I could see a minor crop from the bottom to reduce the rocks impact on the scene just a bit, or even lower the luminosity of the rock a bit for the same reason.

Again, it is a great perch, but really a visual magnet in the frame to my eye. But of course, I am easily distracted. :S3: It may 'read' differently for others.

Wish he was turned towards us a bit more.

Cheers

Randy

[keith mitchell]

Thanks Chris and Randy,this bird was using this stone on it's journey looking for food and returning to it's nesting site which was the other side of a mountain stream, so dealing with a true wild bird so was more than pleased that it would pose long enough to give me the chance of a shot, agree the stone does pull the eye a bit.
Cheers Keith.

[Karl Egressy]

Nice finding Keith and excellent image. I particularly like the lichen covered rock as a perch.

[Tiago Caravana]

I agree with Randy in all his comments. All in all it's indeed a beautiful picture!

I think I never used ISO250 with my D4 in bird photography, but I understand you weren't paying attention to this setting. If the bird moved you could have missed a nice action shot 😊

[keith mitchell]

Tiago your so right spent a lot of time with this bird and got a lot of poor shots, don't often get an opportunity to do this so was really annoyed with myself, age is the best excuse can think of.

Keith.

[Lyle Gruby]

It's always nice to gets shots of rare (to you) birds. Like most everyone else, I love the perch and bird. Him looking away isn't ideal but it doesn't bother me too much in this instance. I also agree about cropping just a little bit of the rock out and I'd probably back down on the sharpening just a touch.

[William Dickson]

Fab image Keith, I like the colours of the bird against the nice BG. The perch looks cool aswell :bg3: Well done and thanks for sharing this

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Keith, excellent exposure, and tack sharp. I like the hint of dirt on the beak from foraging for food, and the bird pops very well against your smooth BG. Before reading Randy's comment, I too felt coming up from the bottom wont harm the image.

[Binu John]

Excellent shot, Keith! Very sharp. Beautiful perch, light and background and perfect exposure.

[keith mitchell]

Thanks a lot guys, appreciated.
Keith.:wave: