Christmas robin

[Ben_Sadd]

Although it has been dreary most of the time, I have had fun taking more time for photography the last few days.

I would have liked the full tail in focus here, but the conditions didn't really allow for more dof. Also, I would have liked plain frosty grass, without the few leaves.

All c&c welcome.

7D
500mm +1.4
Av +1.33
1/100
f/8
ISO 800

[Julie Brown]

Nice head turn and beautiful color. These are good-looking birds.:)

[pat lillich]

I love the frosty grass, and don't mind the leaves mixed in. Wish the tail had been in focus for you - but the colors, eye contact and the detail in the feathers are all wonderful.

[Rob Mckenzie]

I wish the American Robin that we get in Canada (go figure) was as beautiful as the European Robin. Stunning shot. The angle you got is perfect as is the look back pose. Would have been great to get the tail in focus but I also know that at 500mm x 1.4TC x 7d crop factor the DOF is rather slim even at f/8. The frosty grass just puts the icing on the image for me.

[Julie Kenward]

Ben, the bird is very nice here! Yes, more DOF on the tail end would have been nice but I think you can get away with it here because of the OOF snow nearby.

I do think the crop / comp would be a little stronger if you took some off the bottom - right above the green area on the edge of the left side would work well from what I can tell. You might have to add a bit more up top - I'd have to see it to be sure. This will help get rid of a few more of the OOF leaves and draw the eye up to the in focus area more.

Very nice HA and pose! I don't know that I've ever seen a European robin in this forum before so thanks so much for sharing!

[Ben_Sadd]

Thank you for all the comments. These are certainly nice birds and I have a few more images of them that I will post in the future. They are quite territorial little birds, even chasing away larger species that come into their areas. I do have one "action" shot of a robin getting to grips with a greenfinch which I may post for fun, unfortunately there are some distracting background elements.

Julie, was this what you were thinking in terms of a crop?

[Julie Kenward]

That's lovely, Ben! Do you like it better? It seems much more intimate and personal to me now that the bird is larger in the frame but it's more important that you like it!

[Ben_Sadd]

Yes, I am happy with it :)

The only niggle with this crop is that with the larger bird in frame the shallow dof on the bird is emphasised.

Having some real fun out in the orchards and fields at my parents home while here for the holidays. I spent about 5 hours out in my hide today. Light was still not great, but I am making the most of my chances to get out in the fresh air even if no hugely successful images come out of it :D

[nancy hazen]

Ben, beautiful little bird. I like the crop better too. In a way having the tail slightly blurred lets our eye focus on "the cute look" this one is giving us. Very nice!
Nancy

[George Cottay]

With the surroundings and composition I didn't pay any attention to the tail and am slightly partial to the original crop.