Eastern Phoebe

[Jack Backs]

I never hit the field with the intent of imaging an Eastern Phoebe. These mundane birds are common in Eastern Missouri and I find them quite often partially occluding the view in my viewfinder while stalking other birds. I always feel obligated to fire off a few rounds. When I finally got around to PP, I decided this was one of my best images of this species. Maybe not an ideal background, but better than most of my other images. I have this same image with the bird looking slightly down scanning for insects, but decided to post the level head look.

Nikon D500, 500mmF4VRII, TC-14EIII

F8 1/800s iso320

Processed in Photoshop. I use Topaz InFocus on the bird and Topaz DeNoise on the background.

Jack

[Isaac Grant]

I like this image. Feather details are very nice. I like the simple perch and the nice background. Not sure if they are blown highlights or something else but I would burn the bright white area on the perch that is below the tail of the bird. I feel the bird is a little tight in the frame and would like some more room above and to the left. Also I typically prefer (although many others don't care so much) the head to be turned slightly towards us as I find those types of images far more engaging. It is funny because we get tons and tons of phoebes moving through New York City in migration and they are almost always very hard to photograph. They go in the other direction the second you even consider stepping towards them. It is to the point where I think they can read my mind!