Baltimore Oriole

[Jim Crosswell]

Here is another image from the spring. It was taken in my backyard setup. All C&Cs are welcome and appreciated.

Canon 40D
500L f4
1.4 Extender
ISO 500
f/8
1/160s
Tripod

[Chad Caswell]

Holy Mackerel... Nice shot!

Chad

[John Chardine]

OK so why is it a "holy mackeral" image?! I agree it is. Beautifully done Jim. I like it because of the colour, lighting, sharpness, BG, perch, eye contact, and I could go on. I REALLY like that the flowers are in focus and complement the bird so well. The only thing I would say is that on my calibrated laptop monitor, viewed head-on the head looks a little dark and I find myself increasing the viewing angle to brighten it up a bit. A superb image IMO.

[Grace Scalzo]

Congratulations, Jim. What a beauty. Every thing is so in focus that it looks 3-D, plus the texture of the bird's head looks like velvet. I love how your two toned background is (loosely) divided by the stick. I remember that some time ago, I suggested a more interesting perch, you were holding back. :w3 This is a real memorable image and certainly one to be proud of.

[Bill Dix]

Sweet. For all the reasons noted by John. My first reaction was that the head was soaking up every bit of light that fell on it; but as I study it I can see some detail coming through, just enough to give it that 'velvet' look that Grace mentions.

[noelle zaleski]

Wonderful image!

Background, flowers and sharp well exposed subject :S3:

[Herb Houghton]

Beautiful image Jim. Everything is great, I especially like how the perch separates the two different colored BGDs.

[Gary Esman]

Hi Jim, another great Oriole shot. Great pose, nice HA and background. Got kind of close with the flower covering the tail but you were able to pull it off:w3. My favorite bird we see in our backyard each spring! TFS.

Gary.

[Brendan Dozier]

This is awesome, Jim! Amazing IQ, gorgeous rich colors, nice composition!

[Daniel Cadieux]

Very nice spring image, and the pose the oriole gave you is very appealing. Awesome BG!! Only suggestion I could offer here is a looser composition as I feel the overall bird/flowers cluster a bit tight in the frame (see especially at bottom).

Great stuff!

[Arthur Morris]

Killer sharp with a great set-up. I too would love to see this framed a bit looser. You have the oranges just perfect.

[Stu Bowie]

Nicely framed between the two flowers, and Im glad you didnt cut off the hanging flower.:w3 Good job on exposing the blacks, and as Artie mentioned, good job on the orange too. Super pose, sharp, and the two BG looks great.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

JIm, another beauty. excellent perch and colors. Lot of good advice above. Loved the pose and the design. What a sweet BG. The green looks a little on the cooler side to me....it can be perfectly natural though :-)

[Craig Brelsford]

Not an easy shot to achieve, so I hope you don't mind my nitpicking about eye-contact; I would like more. Much good advice above, the best of which is about the tightness of the composition. Good job on the oranges, but the details in the head are just barely discernible.