Say's Phoebe.

[Karl Egressy]

This bird was high on my wish list as I never managed to get close the one before.
This year I found three of them at three different locations and one was very cooperative.
Thanks for looking.

Canon 1D M IV
Canon 500 f4.0 L IS + 1.4x TC
Manual Setting
ISO 320
F 8.0
1/1000 s
Hand held

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the curves in the perch, pose, loose crop and complimentary BG. I would fix the darker spot where the branches meet at the bottom of the frame. Well done Karl!

[John Cooper]

That is such a sweet composition Karl - love the configuration of those dried flowers with the Phoebe perched on top and the killer BG. Was the bird attracted to a feeder Karl?

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Karl, the setting and comp works for me, with the high placement of the bird in the frame. Nice and sharp, and I too, like the BG. I wish there was more separation behind the tail.

[Raymond Lee]

Beautiful composition and a lovely background! A very pleasing image.

[dankearl]

Very nice image Karl.Subtle and attractive color.I think a bit off the bottom would look nice.

[arash_hazeghi]

nice settings, I wish the tail had not intersected with the flower

very nice

[Shawn Zierman]

Sweet southwestern color scheme Karl...just lovely.
If the perch was not a set up, you should tip the bird, because it looks that good.
I'll bet it was not, so the tail and flower head touching does not bother me a bit.
Compositionally, consider cropping up from the bottom slightly from the bottom,
and cropping a bit off the right hand side, to center the bird more.
Beautiful light and pose.

[gail bisson]

WOW Karl,
This gets a 10 out of 10 from me.
I love everything about it- especially the light and colors.
I didn't even notice the tail touching the flower until mentioned , so I can say it doesn't bother me at all.
Love the curves in the perch.
Agree with deleting out the round blob between the 2 stems.
Congrats on a beautiful shot,
Gail

[christopher galeski]

nice comp Karl,nice light and BG,thanks.

[Karl Egressy]

Thank you all, I appreciate your comment. It was not a setup. I noticed the bird in a tree and took some shots initially. Then I told Marienne, this is where I want the bird perching. I swiched the ipod on and put it on the ground playing his song. It landed on the perch in no time. Even I was surprised.
As per Jim's advice, I removed the darker blob. As per Shawn's advice, I moved the bird to the right be more centered.
I'll eventually post one where the tail doesn't touch the flower, but the pose is not this good.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Love the flowers, the pose and the complementary bg, Karl.
Didn't know these responded to audio.

[Bill Dix]

Congrats on getting the species, Karl. But more than that, on getting him on a great perch, great pose, great bg. Well done indeed. One of these fellows created a stir when he showed up in New Jersey a month or two ago, but I've never seen one.

[David Salem]

Great capture on this one. Very complementary colors and the comp is very nice. Wonderful perch and BG. Well done. These guys are very common out here in the California desert. Congrats.

[Satish Ranadive]

Karl:
Absolutely superb image.Beautiful color scheme. Love the pose,perch,lights and very well balanced composition.

Regards,
Satish.