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Ilija Dukovski
07-11-2009, 10:25 PM
Taken today at Belle Island in Boston
just before sunrise.
One of my favorite sparrows.
The D80 did not do too bad at low light.

Critique appreciated.

Nikon D80 Nikkor 300mm AF-S + TC1.4
Matrix AP+0.33 f/5.6 1/80 Fill flash @-1 1/3 with BB
Samuel Mulder
07-11-2009, 10:47 PM
It's pretty good Ilija. My only thoughts would be that the grass obscuring parts of his legs are a bit distracting, and it could be just the web conversion but it looks a touch soft to me. I think you did a nice job with the fill flash.

Samuel
Brian Barcelos
07-11-2009, 11:44 PM
Ilija, How you doing neighbor. These are also some of my favorite sparrows. I find them very hard to approach. You did a good job here. I agree with Samuel's comments. I'd also clone out the blade of grass crossing over his head.

Brian
David Fletcher
07-12-2009, 05:32 AM
Like your comp and presentation Ilija, and agree with Samuel's comments.
Keith Carver
07-12-2009, 06:06 AM
Agree with Samuel's suggestions. The head could stand a bit of sharpening. Also, cloning out the white stick to the left and the green grass above the head would improve the image. Congrats on getting this close - these s-t sparrows are notoriously shy.
Stu Bowie
07-12-2009, 08:28 AM
I like the detail and colours on him Ilija, but this could do with another round of USM.
Axel Hildebrandt
07-12-2009, 08:30 AM
Good find, it's always great to see these guys. Good suggestions above, what ISO setting did you use and is it a heavy crop?
Ramon M. Casares
07-12-2009, 12:09 PM
Agree with all comments above regarding more sharpening. BG is too bussy to me but I like the pose and species.
Congratulations!
Juan Carlos Vindas
07-12-2009, 08:08 PM
Nice looking fellow. Agree on more sharpening.
Ilija Dukovski
07-12-2009, 09:41 PM
Thank you all for your comments, I agree that the bird is not sharp enough
but I'm afraid I've reached the limits of the camera here, not much that can be done.
Even with the fill flash there's not enough light for the D80 to perform well, way too much noise.
The BG is busy but I thought it blends somewhat with the color comp.
I used ISO400 and yes it is a large crop. Today I got bit better light, I'll post later.