Eastern Towhee

[Joel Eade]

Setup in the backyard, this species rarely comes out in the open and when they do it's usually on the ground, so getting one on a perch is a rarity for me.

1DMKIII
300mm 2.8L + 1.4 TCII
Tripod
Manual mode
580 EXIII ETTL -1 2/3 stops + better beamer
1/640
f/7.1
iso 800

[David Gancarz]

Good exposure balance between the whites and the blacks, and good capture against a clean bg. The shadow behind and to the right of the towhee is noticeable. Is it an artifact from the flash? I believe the bird would better engage the viewer if it were looking more towards the camera.

Could you elaborate on your choice to use fill flash in this situation? The ambient lighting seems to be diffuse to where it might not be required. I ask because I have not used flash + BB very much (am a new owner same) and am curious about your thought process. Thanks.

[Joel Eade]

Thanks David,

The shadow behind is an out of focus tree trunk about 50 feet behind the perch.

I used flash because it was very overcast and I was unable to get any details in the blacks or a fast enough shutter speed without some extra light. The ambient was diffused as you mentioned but there simply wasn't enough light for a good exposure.

Joel

[Joel Eade]

Repost with BG cleaned up

[Terry Olmsted]

I like your repost, Joel, a nice improvement. I might have cropped a bit more off the bottom of the perch.
The flash helped bring out the detail of his black head and gave a nice catchlight. Your Towhee looks very much like our Spotted Towhee here in the Pacific Northwest.
Terry

[Michael Lloyd]

I like version 2. Nice capture of a gorgeous bird.

[Gary Esman]

Very nice winter scene. The colors of the bird compliment the perch and background. Normally may think the perch is a bit to large but the snow helps a ton. Exposure looks good and a great pose for this little guy.

Gary.

[Patrick Sparkman]

The snow did not bother me, but the bird looking away does. Still a very pretty shot though.