Walking On Clouds...American Tree Sparrow. [Archive] - BirdPhotographers.net

Daniel Cadieux

03-06-2012, 05:31 PM

Fresh snow, ground dwelling bird, photographing lying flat on the snow...this is what you get! I thought it looked rather heavenly, minus the blue sky:S3: I photographed this fella about an hour before I stumbled onto the Saw-whet Owl I posted a few days ago. In that excitement I had nearly forgotten about this sweet little fella...and this from someone who loves sparrows!

Canon 7D +100-400L @400mm, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/1600s., f/6.3, ISO 800 (settings histogram checked for slightly blinking snow), natural light, handheld, levels to make the image pop...especially the blacks.

gail bisson

03-06-2012, 06:39 PM

This image is ...heavenly! I love the softness of the image. Good HA , terrific IQ and as always, love the snow. You have a nice soft diagonal line in the snow that I like very much. I might wish for a sliver more room on the left and a bit less on the right but that is a minor nit. well done,
gail

Randy Stout

03-06-2012, 07:19 PM

Daniel:

Well captured and processed. Great shooting angle.

When I looked at the image with the light gray bg for my browser, the the snow rather faded into the light gray, and I thought the bird was lost a bit in the mass of light tones. I switched to Capt. James skin with the black bg, and liked it a lot better.

Good example of how 'matting' of the image makes a big difference.

Cheers

Randy

Robert Amoruso

03-06-2012, 08:32 PM

Daniel,

I love the BG and the diagonal mound of snow this attractive sparrow is perched on. Just right body posture and head position.

I find the bird a bit to dark for my taste. I downloaded it and used a rather aggressive Shadows/Highlights correction on the shadows and then added black to black and neutral colors using Selective Color to put back the POP the S/H correction flattened out.

Raul Padilla

03-06-2012, 10:33 PM

i like the mood and comp, for me the best is the emotion i feel when i see it

dankearl

03-07-2012, 12:25 AM

Beautifully simple.

Frank Schauf

03-07-2012, 02:31 AM

Nice composition and excellent expsoure control and sharpness.

Stu Bowie

03-07-2012, 11:43 AM

Hi Dan, lying cold in the snow has paid off with this angle. I really like how the colours of the sparrow pop from your snowy BG, and a great pose from the little guy as well. I feel your placement and comp are spot on. Well captured.

Jim Crosswell

03-07-2012, 06:52 PM

I like the low angle, pose, setting and composition. Well done Daniel!

Robert Holguin

03-08-2012, 01:49 AM

Wow!! Excellent shot. Love the pose, excellent detail. well composed, and lovely light.
Very well done.