Juvi Red Wing Blackbird

[Patrick Sparkman]

Something different from our recent Bosque trip. Not a Goose, Crane, or blur!

We had just put the polarizer in the 800 to shoot blurs when this juvi Blackbird landed right in front of us. I raised the shutter speed, and waited for the head turn. I like the claws, and the fact that the bird grabbed two twigs to stabilize himself.

Basic LR adjustments, and removed a couple of OOF twigs in CS5 using QM and clone tool.

Canon 1D IV, Canon 800 f5.6 IS, Drop-in polarizer, ISO 400, f 5.6, 1/640 sec, +1 EV in Aperture priority.

[Christopher Marek]

Something different from our recent Bosque trip. Not a Goose, Crane, or blur!

We had just put the polarizer in the 800 to shoot blurs when this juvi Blackbird landed right in front of us. I raised the shutter speed, and waited for the head turn. I like the claws, and the fact that the bird grabbed two twigs to stabilize himself.

Basic LR adjustments, and removed a couple of OOF twigs in CS5 using QM and clone tool.

Canon 1D IV, Canon 800 f5.6 IS, Drop-in polarizer, ISO 400, f 5.6, 1/640 sec, +1 EV in Aperture priority.
I love the BG. It is perfect for this bird. I wanted to make a solitary shot like this last week when I was at Bosque but the opportunity never came up for me.

[Joerg Rockenberger]

Great pose, exposure and background. But I can't help but wonder if the two twigs didn't proceed past (and behind) the bird in the image and were cloned out subsequently. It just seems a bit magic as shown. Besides that I'd crop from below just before the Y...

JR

PS: there might be also a halo around the bird...

[Allen Sparks]

nicely done. I like the background and overall composition.

[Joey Lounsbury]

Great image! I really like the perch and the background. Excellent details in the black as well!

Joey

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Patrick, loved the design. Clean, simple and beautiful. well done.

[Pieter de Waal]

Nice image against a lovely background. Like the way you have brought out the colour and detail in the plumage.

[denise ippolito]

Beautiful soft gradient BG Patrick. I like the thin perch and the nice details.:)