Cormorant in nest

[Brendan Dozier]

I had been trying to get some closer shots of cormorants at a local lake here. Even rented a long lens, but still was not close as I wanted. Took a break and went to zoo, and there at the bird santuary was this beautiful cormorant just a few yards away!

Canon 7D, 70-200 L IS II with Ext 2x II, 1/60, 5.6, AP 400 ISO

[nancy hazen]

Nce eye contact. I like the perspective of your shot very much. Nice work!
Nancy

[Brendan Dozier]

Thanks Nancy. Got a lot to learn, but it was nice to get that close.

[WIlliam Maroldo]

Nice image. A few suggestions. Be careful to avoid foreground elements(if possible), such as the blurry stick in front of the head. If unavoidable, its best to increase the DOF to get it in focus as well. A blurred stick looks like a mistake, if it were in sharp focus (as well as the bird) it would seem intentional. This includes the other elements in the foreground. You may have had to increase the ISO considerably to get a high enough Fstop, and it does take time to get used shooting ISO 1000-1600, but it is well worth it. If you wish to include blurred foreground elements it is best that they are blurred so much to be unrecognizable. regards~Bill

[Julie Kenward]

I think William's critique hit it on the nail for me. You have a lot of good things going on here Brendan but something to remember is that our brains will look for the bird's eye first and then go right to the lightest thing in the image (which, in your case, is the OOF nest.)

So, as William said, if it's really showing up as a large part of the image you want to stop down the aperture so you can get both nest and bird in focus. Another way to go would be to rise up and shoot from a higher angle so much less (or none) of the nest is showing.

You can still clone the one stick out that is cutting into his head...that alone will make a huge difference here. And next time try to wait for that head turn to be a little bit past center and towards you instead of away.

Keep them coming!

[pat lillich]

love the colors in his face, the soft tan and the jade eyes... would love to see it with the stick over the back of his head, and the large one in front of him cloned out -

[Maureen Allen]

It's really hard to get a shot like this without including some OOF elements. Overall, I think it's a great job. Nice detail on the bird and the colors are beautiful. Maybe next time back off just a bit and increase the DOF if you can.

[Brendan Dozier]

Thanks to William, Julie and everyone else for their feedback.

William, that is extremely helpful info, I understand exactly what you mean with your clear, concise explaination. I appreciate you and everyone else taking the time to critique and sharing your expertise. I have learned a huge amount just in one day of putting my images out there for the first time. Can you guys do all of the corrections for me? LOL!

[William Malacarne]

Brendan

Nice detail and composition. I agree about taking the two offending twigs from the nest. Love the green eye....:)
Seeing you are from So Cal, do you ever go to Bolsa Chica? It is kind of slow there now except for ducks, cormorants and gulls. Overall it is a very good spot.
Here is a 4 page lusting of what and when different birds can be seen.

http://bolsachica.org/Birders/part1.html


Bill

[Brendan Dozier]

Thanks Bill. Have not been there, but looks like a great location. Thanks for the link.