Red Breasted Nuthatch

[Cheryl Flory]

Canon 60D
f/5.6
1/400
ISO 800
400mm
flash at -2/3

I use peanuts in the hole in the stick to attract the nuthatches and I cloned out those peanuts. I cropped a little from the bottom and more from the left side since the bird's eye was dead center in the original image. I do wish I could see all of the tail though. These are very very quick tiny birds. The bird was in the shade so I used the fill flash. I lightened the whole image a little, and even with the fill flash I still lightened the body a bit more. Too much??

thanks for helping an avian beginner.

[arash_hazeghi]

I like how he is hanging on with both feet, image is sharp and well exposed, brightness looks good to me.

Perch is not the best and a bit too bulky for this bird. I wish the BG was more uniform, the blue area came out to look like a halo around the bird.

[Cheryl Flory]

Arash, I see what you mean about the bulky perch. Would it help to crop more off the bottom?

[arash_hazeghi]

Arash, I see what you mean about the bulky perch. Would it help to crop more off the bottom?

I am not sure because that will make the bird too large in the frame.

[arash_hazeghi]

For setup shots, I recommend Alan Murphy's eBook. it helps you make mind blowing setups and great perches :)

[gail bisson]

Hi Cheryl,
This is lovely.
Excellent use of fill flash.
I really like the BG and the IQ and feather detail.
I like the textures in the perch but agree with you that I miss seing the whole tail.
You did good for a beginning avian photographer,
gail

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the detail, sharpness and exposure. The eye looks a little funny did you remove the flash catchlight? Here is an rough alternative just to minimize the perch.

[Satish Ranadive]

Magnificent image.Love the pose,beautiful colors and great details.I like the repost by Jim.

Regards,
Satish.

[Jon Rista]

Fantastic photo. The detail is great, lighting is great. Your fill flash technique is wonderful. I agree about the background...nice and smooth, but that blue does kind of create a halo. I don't really have anything to say about the perch. It seems large, but I kind of like the way the bird has clasped on. With a smaller perch, I don't think the bird's pose would have been quite as amusing.

[Cheryl Flory]

Thank you, everyone, for your help. I appreciate it. The blue in the background is from pots of flowers I put there to break up the green. Perhaps it would be better without the flowers, and go for the solid green.

[Marina Scarr]

Lovely subject with terrific details. Love those feet. Jim did a great job with the RP. I personally love the BG as is but you could also use both backgrounds and mix it up a little bit. That's what's fun about set ups, is that you can make changes.

[Cheryl Flory]

Marina, I too like the repost. But since this is a bird that normally climbs up and down the tree trunk, a horizontal display is not how you typically see this bird.
So much to learn!

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Cheryl, I like the dynamic pose and would stick to the original post over the one suggested by Jim. It feels more dynamic. I agree with Arash about the perch being too big (in diameter, not so much in size within the frame). The tail would have been nice to get, but not much you can do about these fast moving birds.

[Frank Schauf]

Beautiful portrait, great details and sharpness.