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Hi Randall ,My take on your photo : There is a good amount to like here . I like the sharpness of the bird's head ,and how well i can see the eye . The open Beak is a plus ,and the feather detail on the fnt of the bird is nice . If I were to look for an area to nit-pick about ,it would be , I wish the whole bird were in focus . The perch......well in one thought I feel it is too big ,however ,at the same time it's size gives reference to the finch's size .so the jury is still on the tree top, but still leaning toward it taking too much away from the subject . all-in-all ,I like the photograph .Job well done !
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I like it Randall. Love the seed in it's mouth. The perch doesn't really bother me, but a smaller one most likely would have been better. A little more DOF on the bird would be nice, but it's close enough for me. We don't see those birds here in south Texas, so always a pleasure to view those I don't get to see.
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Randall,
Nice shot love the species, interesting that you used distance rather that ETTL. I am not being critical here and believe distance is a good way to control flash. Assume the flash was used because of low light and thats the reason for cranking up the ISO to 800? The perch is too dominate the frame and alternative crops should be considered.
Notice how the perch pulls on the eye and draws it out of the frame to the left. The bright spots in the background are alright but try and tone them down. The bottom line is,.. work on controlling the frame and deciding on what you will allow in the frame and what needs to be eliminated from the frame. This is a nice shot but work the subject harder and try and improve the harmony in image. Keep em coming and thanks for sharing.
Last edited by Jeff Cashdollar; 11-16-2012 at 05:05 PM.
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Clyde, Jeannean, Jeff-as always, thank you for the input. Of the small flocking birds in my area, the house finch tends to sit still a little bit longer than the rest, though they do constantly move their head about. I too believe the perch is a little too dominant though alternative crops didn't seem to balance well either. While some degree of cropping is inevitable, I am trying to avoid relying on the heavier as they tend to lose something, be it details, overall sharpness, spacial balance etc. In this case, I was hoping for something a little larger -such as a Cardinal or Jay-to frequent the tree branch which just didn't happen.
Clyde- Due to the house and neighbors trees etc, this spot only sees direct light for about an hour or so during mid morning and again for about the same around 4 p.m. Other than at those times, it's pretty much an ISO 640-800 setting for the environment, even with fill flash. It's also been cloudy or overcast quite a bit recently.
When I'm shooting race cars and victory lane at night, ETTL-II has been fairly reliable. With birds, I tend to get more consistent, natural results dialing it in with manual. I still plan to experiment with off camera/ diffused light for more control and softer shadows in this spot. Also going to try a green screen backdrop in order to use different bg scenics in post.
Last edited by Randall Farhy; 11-19-2012 at 08:34 AM.
