Red-breasted Nuthatch

[Roy Priest]

I've been wanting a nice picture of this species for a long time. I have heard them around the house before but I am inundated with them at the present.
D4, 300f4, 1/800 @ F.6, ISO 1600, -1/3 EV, handheld.

[Randy Stout]

Roy:

A classic nut hatch pose, smooth BG, interesting perch that works well with the pose.

I could see a version with the feathers touching the head removed.

Any noise reduction required?

Cheers

Randy

[Roy Priest]

Thanks Randy. I blurred the background by about 4 pixels in Guassian blur, more to even out the BK rather than for noise. I found 1 pixel got rid of the noise.

[laurie golden]

I love the composition with the whole branch and leaves, it makes a great complete photo. You did a good job on getting the background blurred enough but showing some variation of color.

[John Cooper]

I very much like the composition here Roy - the attractive perch and unusual pose of the bird against a sweet BG all work well. Great work!

[John Cooper]

Roy I was interested in your treatment of the BG with Guassian blur.
If ever I use more than 1 pixel of GB I end up with a halo around sharp edges. In todays DDQ Tim Grey talks about Surface Blur, which I admit I've never tried. But it overcomes this halo or blooming seen with Guassian Blur. I'll be looking at that filter very closely in future..!!

[dankearl]

I love these birds!
I think a looser crop would look great if you have it.
A bit more below as I think it looks a bit tight.
Very nice IQ and a very nice and interesting comp and habitat.

[Shawn Zierman]

The complexity of the perch and the care you took in setting it up properly scores high marks imo.
Excellent low light image. I agree that a bit more room on the bottom is a worthwhile consideration
in regards to the composition. A slight head turn towards you would have been even better.
Love the nuthatch behavior/pose.

[Roy Priest]

I love the composition with the whole branch and leaves, it makes a great complete photo. You did a good job on getting the background blurred enough but showing some variation of color.

Thanks Laurie

[Roy Priest]

Roy I was interested in your treatment of the BG with Guassian blur.
If ever I use more than 1 pixel of GB I end up with a halo around sharp edges. In todays DDQ Tim Grey talks about Surface Blur, which I admit I've never tried. But it overcomes this halo or blooming seen with Guassian Blur. I'll be looking at that filter very closely in future..!!

I tried the surface blur but I haven't had the halo problems so far. Usually if I want to remove noise I either run nik define or I enlarge the image and see how small an adjustment I have to make.

[Vivaldo Damilano]

Excellent image of these shy birds. I like the pose and perch. A little bit below would be better, good work.

[Frank Schauf]

Beautiful portrait, great pose and colours.

[Melissa Groo]

What a stunning image. Looks like an Audubon painting. I really like the colors and composition and that gorgeous background.

[christopher galeski]

great image,its all been said,well done.