SAVANNAH SPARROW

[gary ellwein]

Yesterday was one of the few cloudy days we've had this summer. I took advantage of it and spent most of the day in the Centennial Valley on the Idaho Montana border. The valley contains Red Rock Lakes NWR and is quite remote. D7000, Nikkor 600mm, f9, 1/400, iso 800, EV + 0.67, beanbag on truck door, Ap. priority, matrix. Minor pp in PSCS5 with bg noise reduction and selectve sharpening of subject. This is a big crop in the range of 70%. I believe this is a crop too far. Would like opinion of others. For one reason or another I've become attached to the image.

Normally I would not have shot this image at f9. An hour before I ran across a flock of sage grouse and tried to get multiple subjects in focus. I did not tend to my settings after that series of shots. Hopefully a lesson learned. C & C appreciated.

[Satish Ranadive]

Magnificent image with beautiful composition.Nice natural perch with flowers.BG colors are well complimenting with bird.
Love the pose,great details on bird,lights and sharpness. Prey in the beak adds to beauty of frame.We have similar looking bird called as "Tree Pipit".

Regards,
Satish.

[Andrew Merwin]

Gary, I like this image. The grasshopper in the beak is a big plus. It does appear a bit bright on my monitor. You may want to reduce the exposure & increase the saturation a bit.

[Bill Dix]

I can see why you're attracted to it -- it's a handsome image. Grasshopper a plus; comp and colors are nice. IQ held up pretty well to the crop. I could imagine a tad more room on the left to get the proportions closer to 3:2, but that's personal preference. Doesn't look overly bright on my screen, but maybe a little tweaking of curves could make it pop. In any event, a nice image.

[Matt Tucker]

Great shot, love the prey in mouth. Wishing for a slight head turn toward the camera.
It does look a little bright to me too but I think it's the background. If you already have it masked for the noise reduction I might try darkening it a bit.

[Nancy Bell]

Super composition with the sharp & detailed sparrow and the softly out-of-focus sage artfully surrounding the sparrow, especially that lovely piece extending above the sparrow. Really nice that you captured the sparrow with the grasshopper in it's beak.

[gary ellwein]

Repost with slightly darkened bg. Thanks to all for C & C.

[Maya Raut]

Hi Gary,

Fantastic capture with pray. Re post looks better to me.

- Maya

[Daniel Cadieux]

I like the subject, perch, BG. I do wish for a better body and head angle on the sparrow, and too bad the prey is not facing us (but still a very nice bonus to have). As for the crop I'd personally like more room at left, and perhaps a bit at top too for that upper stem. The eye looks to be a bit over done...I like lighting them on my images too, but you got to have it smooth all the way around. BTW, I love the displaced feather near the tail!

[gary ellwein]

Daniel, thank you for the detailed and constructive critique. When time allows, I will start from scratch and incorperate yours and others suggestions.