Mama Bluebird With Dragonfly

[Allen Sparks]

Canon 7D2, 400mm f4 DO IS II, 1.4x TC III, tripod
ISO 400, f10, 1/320s

A female bluebird caught a dragonfly and brought it to the nest box in my yard. She ended up eating it herself.

[Arthur Morris]

Sharp, a lovely BKGR, with prey, and the perfect look back head turn. Yet this one leaves me flat.I am not exactly sure why in part because I am not too familiar with female bluebirds ...Perhaps the upper back and face are too dark, too textured, and/or lacking contrast. And, I am not a fan of boxy crops in general. Perhaps a bit more above and below would help the image design.

with love, artie

[John Mack]

Very nice. Love how the dragonflies head is facing us. Great background with great detail on the bird.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Allen, lovely pose showing off her meal, and overall, nice and sharp with good DOF throughout. I do like the clean BG, and thats a fair size meal for her.

[dankearl]

Terrific catch with the bug. I think the colors are very accurate for the female, I think the crop is fine, not sure what is boxy about it?

[Arthur Morris]

Hi Dan,

A boxy crop is any crop where the long side of the original 3X2 or 2X3 image is shorter than it was in the original as a result of cropping.

with love artie