Backlit Waxwing.

[dankearl]

The perch is Scotch Broom, a very invasive non native plant in the Northwest that is really taking over a lot of habitat, unfortunately.

1/800, f5,6, ISO 1250, 500MM, HH, D800

DSC_1102bp.jpg (http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=114719&stc=1&d=1340554588)

[Karl Egressy]

Very nice picture, Dan. I like the perch, background and composition.

[laurie golden]

Nice sharp shot of one of my favorite birds, and great background. Do you know if he was eating the SB flowers?

[Randy Stout]

Dan:

Nice colors, exposure, BG, interesting, though undesirable perch.

I wish the bird was turned a bit more parallel to us, as is the perch is so full of detail and contrast with the backlight around the leaves/pods, that I find my eye wandering around the perch more than the bird.

Cheers

Randy

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Dan - nice comp, perch and bg. I agree with Randy and wish the bird was a bit more parallel to us.

TFS,
Rachel

[gail bisson]

Hi Dan,
The BG is lovely.
Exposure and IQ are good.
I find the perch overwhelming though and wish I could see the tail.
I do like the backlighting in the seedpods.
Gail

[Daniel Cadieux]

The semi rim lighting worked well here. Neat perch, good BG, perfect exposure. I could see less at bottom and left, although I understand you were careful with the yellow flowers though.

[Matthew Studebaker]

Again, Randy nailed the crit. Love the perch but almost overwhelming visually, which may be solved by cropping more of it out perhaps? THat said, it's a wonderful image!

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Dan, I like the leaning pose, and although a vertical would work, choosing this comp suits to show off the interesting looking perch. Good exposure throughout.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Dan, I actually like the comp and think the backlighting in the seed pods is pretty cool. The bird is gorgeous and so is the bg.
Definitely works for me.