Northern Mockingbird

[Jason G. Harrison]

Was out shooting in the fog the other day when a break came and I got some decent light. Just so happened that this N. Mockingbird was right close and in a nice pose for me, at the right time.

D300s, 600VR, f/6.3, ISO 400, 1/1600th SS, Manual exposure, full frame.

http://www.jasongharrison.com/images/2673_wnp_S.jpg

It was too close in fact. I could barely get its feet in the frame. I took a "tip" from Alan Murphys CD and once the bird flew off, I took an image of the post lower, and then added just a tiny bit of the fence post to what I already had.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

It looks as if he just had a bath. I like the sharpness, angle and eye contact. I would remove the darkish streaks in the BG above the head and next to the perch and try to get more details in the blacks.

[Bill Dix]

Nice pose, and beautifully sharp feather detail. Great trick with the post; I've had a number of occasions when I wish I had thought to do that. Were it mine I might give just a tad of brightness and saturation to the eye, but it is probably more natural as posted. Nicely done!

[Daniel Cadieux]

Nice of this fellow to pose for you! I wish the feet weren't lost in the shadows of the perch (I think there could be more of that perch showing BTW), and although the HA ain't "bad" I would still have preferred it turned a wee bit more towards us. I like the BG, just a few faint streaks that need to be dealt with.