Cactus Wren

[Ian Cassell]

Canon 7D
Sigma 100-300mm f/4 + 1.4X @ 386mm
1/1000 sec f/8 ISO 640

[John Chardine]

What a great bird to see Ian! I like the pose and head angle you have captured. The amount of head turn is just right to give some eye contact and provide interest. The light is soft and warm. The bird is a bit soft and the focus point looks like it could be on the branch that goes in front of the bird. Some sharpening may improve that. I find the background jumble and front branch a bit distracting but I know how hard it is to get a clear shot sometimes. If you have a keeper and a small branch runs over top of the subject you can remove the offending vegetation with some Photoshop work. Here the job looks too tough.

One of my dreams is to photograph the desert birds of AZ and NM!

[Julie Kenward]

Lovely wren, Ian! I've got Carolina Wrens but have never seen a Cactus Wren. John is right in that it seems your focal point is closer to the branch and breast of the bird than on the head/eye but it can more than likely be improved with some sharpening in PS. The one OOF dark branch that cuts the tail is probably the only other thing that bugs me - the rest of the image shows some nice BG and it's nicely complimentary to the colors of the bird. It's certainly a good try!

[Arthur Morris]

Excellent suggestions by our two great mods above. :) You could have chosen an upper (while working in vertical format) AF sensor that would have fallen on the eye. Apparently here the central sensor caught the branch. Always strive to focus on the eye.

[Ian Cassell]

Thanks for advice, everyone :) Much appreciated!

Yes, John, get out here and shoot up our desert birds! This is our state bird and I see a fair number of them.