Red Winged Black Bird on Spent Fire Flag

[Grace Scalzo]

From my recent trip to Wakodahatchee. Hard to get this bird to sit still for a photograph as he was actively defending his territory.

1/125, f 5.6, ISO400
Canon mk3, 500f4

[Randy Stout]

Grace:

Your bird itself is beautifully presented, with subtle colors and details in the dark plumage. Sharp, good head angle, good foot.

The background colors are great.

I might be tempted to work on toning down some of the perch material, esp. the two large stalks behind it to the left. They are a bit distracting, in in once case, tends to lead the eye right out of the frame.

I think you can reduce their impact enough by lower contrast and luminosity, that their impact is lessened.

Cheers

Randy

[Fabs Forns]

He looks like a young bird, very healthy and shinny. You got the best Wako colors to complement as a BG for the black.
A slightly darker vignette would bring the attention more to him.
Hope you had a nice trip!

[James Salywoda]

Gorgeous image of this species Grace a nice composition, detail and the bg colors are beautiful.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the soft light, head angle, exposure and sharpness. The perch is interesting and I only wish the green spot behind the bird were not there.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Nice use of DOF and an excellent job of exposing the blacks. I have struggled a lot with this bird.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Like the contrasting bird with the environment. For me the perch is fine, probably as it sits there in life with its lightness. It does not distract me one bit. I like your presentation. :)

[Bill Dix]

Grace - Great detail and range of color for a black bird. The color of the BG compliments him very nicely. Agree the perch is a bit busy, but it does give a good sense of habitat. You came out ahead in the trade-off, IMHO. Like the composition and eye contact. Well done!

[Aidan Briggs]

The perch bugs me a little, but the HA, exposure, and BG are perfect.

[Gail Spitler]

The bird is excellent - nice pose, sharp, well exposed, nice bg colors. I agree about trying a bit of vignetting.
Cheers
Gail

[LouBuonomo]

Love the bird... don't hate the perch as much as when we were standing there...