Savannah Sparrow

[Nancy Bell]

Photographed on the coast of central Oregon, August 2011. The early morning light was beautiful and I wanted to be everywhere at once!

Canon 1D Mark IV, Canon 400 DO f4 IS, 1/400, f10, ISO 400

C & C most appreciated.

[Jeff Parker]

That is nice light and the lichen on the rock adds interest. I would crop the grasses on the left.

[Bill Dix]

Nancy, the light is indeed lovely, I like the pose against the beautiful blue BG, and I agree with Jeff that the lichen-covered rock is a bonus (especially since the lichen picks up the Savannah's supraloral color). To me, the lower part of the rock and the oof grasses don't add anything to the image -- I'd crop left and bottom.

[Karl Egressy]

Beautiful light, great pose and perch, Nancy.

[Arthur Morris]

Ditto Karl but that scraggly grass did not work for me. Mostly cropped with a bit of grass removal with the Patch Tool, a small Quick Mask, and the Clone Stamp Tool

[Arthur Morris]

Forgot to mention. IQ looks fine.

[Dan Busby]

Nancy - I'm a bit torn on this one. Good detail, HA and beautiful warm light. But I think the repost puts better focus on the important qualities in the image.

[Bill Jobes]

The light doesn't get any better than this, Nancy !

The repost improves the image impact.

[arash_hazeghi]

great shot, I like Artie's repost

[Nancy Bell]

I agree the crop is an improvement. My thought was the lichen covered rock was a really nice base for the sparrow. I just kept too much of it. Thank you everyone for your good advice, and Artie, for your example.

[Emily Norman]

Excellent capture and I agree with the repost and comments, now the focus is more on the bird. I like the how the bits of yellow in the rock are mirrored in the yellow around his eyes.

[Pieter de Waal]

So nice to photograph in that wonderful light Nancy. Love the lichen covered rock, as well as the detail and colour in the feather pattern. Also prefer the repost.