Northern Mockingbird

[Dave Hassell]

Location: Set-up on private ranch in Texas Hill Country
Camera: Canon 50D
Lens: Canon 600mm f4.0 IS
ISO: 800
Aperture priority AE
Evaluative Metering
SS: 1/100
Av : f6.3
Fill flash: Canon 580EXII -1
I know the perch is too large for the species but that's where it perched! It is also too central.

[Scott Frye]

Nice, clean background and I like seeing the color in the eye. Maybe crop the left side about where the branch begins would bring the bird off center.

[Keith Carver]

Nice pose and BG, Dave. Would wish for slightly higher eye for better contact. I don't think the perch is too large but agree that less canvas on left and more on right would help.

[Nicki Gwynn Jones]

Hi Dave,
If your personal ethics allow I would add canvas to the right and I would lighten the eye just a little. Exposure looks excellent and I love the BG.
Best Nicki

[Dave Hassell]

Thanks Nicki,
It is not against my ethics, just beyond my ability at the moment.
Dave.

[Wheeler McDougal Jr.]

If it's beyond your ability at the moment. Don't wait another minute order Robert OTools's APTATS1 & 2. He makes it easy. Great shot other than what was mentioned.

[Paul Lagasi]

Well done, I like the pose on the bird, the perch, sharpness....If it were mine I'd move the bird left in the frame..

[Phil Ertel]

Hi David, I think this is a nice image. I like the simple green background as it displays the bird nicely. I agree with the suggestions above that would move the bird to the left. Good advice from Wheeler on APTATS 1 and 2. I took your image into photoshop and using techniques from the Robert O"Toole's APTATS 2 and 1 (respectively), I adjusted the position of the bird and lightened the eye. These two edits took me a couple of minutes at the most. I have found Robert's tutorials to be very helpful and I use them often. I also added a little black to the blacks and neutrals in selective colors in an attempt to make the image pop (which I learned from Arthur Morris Digital Basics: which I recommend if your a reality new processing digital images). I thought it might be useful to give you an idea of how the above suggestion would impact your image.

Thanks for sharing.

[Danny Laredo]

Sweet pose and BG.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Dave. I agree with the comments above. Phil's repost is what I would envision for this image. These changes are easy to make and produce a much nicer final result. :)

[Stu Bowie]

Super pose from the little guy, and Im fine with the size of the perch. Phil's repost works well.

[Dave Hassell]

Thanks folks for all your comments and advice.<O:p</O:p
I have been a digital dinosaur for quite a while and although I played around with it right from the start' I never really got on with it so I gave up. Then about 5 years ago I bought a 20D but only kept the images on the PC without doing anything with them. Now, I’ve given up my beloved slides and am trying with digital again.<O:p</O:p
Thanks for the repost Phil it looks much better. At the moment I am using Canon’s DPP but I suppose I’ll have to splash out on CS4 at some point.<O:p</O:p
Thanks,<O:p</O:p
Dave.<O:p</O:p