A Bunting in the Breeze

[Amy Marques]

This painted bunting was taken near a bird feeder in a friend's garden. The weather was partly sunny and very windy- but the buntings didn't seem to mind. :)

Canon 600mm f/4L IS USM on ID Mark III
1/100s @ f/6.3, ISO 800
Wimberley head, Gitzo head
Manual exposure

[Paul Lagasi]

Nice capture, sharp, nice BKR behind the bird, especially like the feathers billowing in the wind...If it were mine though I'd probably try and clone out the black area.

[Harold Davis]

i like the black area. it transitions just fine for me. and the feathers blowing in the wind are cool too!! looks like a skirt for the bunting!! nice job, amy!!

[Myer Bornstein]

nice picture I would let it be

[Steve Maxson]

Good colors, nice sharpness around the head, and the blowing feathers make it unique, Amy. As an alternative, you might consider tightening the comp by cropping some from the bottom and left. :)

[Fabs Forns]

Extremely attractive picture withe the wind blowing on the feathers making it special.
I may consider taking half of the perch off from the botto, it seems overwhelming next to the little creature.
Very well done.

[Jean Clark]

Amy, Very nice, the colors are perfect, tack sharp, and to catch it with feathers fluffed just tops it off. I agree that I would crop a little at bottom and left also.
TFS, is this from your Alan Murphy setup? We did also and have masses of birds coming now!
Jean

[Markus Jais]

Wonderful shot of this beautiful bird. Great composition and wonderful light and colors.
The fluffed feathers are a great bonus.

Markus

[Keith Carver]

I really love the eye contact and light on this bird's face - just beautiful. The fluffed feathers make this one stand out as a memorable PB. The 1/100 sec exposure gave just enough motion of those feathers but the head is still sharp. The green moss on the perch goes perfectly with the mantle colors. I agree about needing a slight crop from bottom and left.

[Amy Marques]

Following the advise of many, a tighter crop was made. It does look much better. Thanks everyone! ;)

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

tighter crop is better as it still has room for the virtual tail. High on visual impact, this image is. I am a big fan of shallow DOF. loved this one a lot. Nice colors, exposure, focus and sharp where it counts.