Singing Redwinged Blackbird

[Wendy Kates]

I made this image of a redwinged blackbird last spring as it was singing at a local pond. The wind was high, and many reeds in front of the bird were waving back and forth in the wind, so it took several captures before I had a clear shot. Canon Xsi Rebel, 300 f/4 mm, 1.4 X at 420mm, ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/1000s, Induro tripod. Postprocessing included about a 50% crop, and sharpening in CS4. Critiques are welcome.

[Marina Scarr]

Hello Wendy:

You have the makings of a pleasing environmental capture here. I am really liking the calling pose, the reeds and the effects of the wind. Your exposure looks good for the sun angle as evidenced by the catch light in the bird's eye. It's not easy to get details in your black and white subjects as the sun gets higher. You can see that you have more details in the black on top of your bird than you do down below where the sun wasn't hitting it b/c it was so high.

While I understand that you were having a tough time getting a break in the reeds, I wish the bird were facing a little more toward you. I also think this image would be stronger if your bird were not so close to the center of the frame and if the composition were less square. If you haven't already done so, you may wish to consider visiting this link which is very informational: http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...ional-Examples.

Looking forward to seeing more of your images.

[Faraaz Abdool]

Wendy,

Really nice pose you caught here, I've never seen red winged blackbird but I've read that sometimes their red patches can be more or less visible, depending on how they fluff their feathers. You definitely caught him in the right moment here to show off those lovely red patches though. As Marina mentioned, the head angle could be better if he was looking slightly toward you instead of slightly away from you. Looks like you made the best of a difficult situation - exposing a black bird in bright reeds in full sun. Also agree wiht Marina on the composition issue.

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Wendy,

Lots to like here, I was reviewing several 2012 photo contest winners from various magazines and the majority were images like this ,..including habitat and the birds behavior..you have a good eye. Great field technique using a tripod and remember a bird photograph needs to be sharp with a clean well lit eye. A 50% crop will have a negative effect on IQ as well as a general rule we try and have the subject represent at least 20% of the frame. Just curious, do you have a copy of the "Art of Bird Photography" or "Digital Basics" - reading material I reference monthly. You are on the right track here - keep em coming.

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi Wendy, good comments and suggestions above. I would add that there is no critical focus in the image, so it has a soft look overall. I can't really make out where the camera picked focus. What focus mode did you use? Remember to try to focus on the eye. Good job on the difficult exposure.

[Nancy Phillips]

Excellent pose and feather display, good composition, pleasing color, and slightly soft focus. The nape and back black feathers are exposed just right, the flank feathers may be just a tiny bit dark and undifferentiated.