Pyrrhuloxia (female)

[Jeannean Ryman]

I took this shot of a female Pyrrhulloxia last Sunday morning about 8:30. They tend to favor thorny thickets, so backgrounds aren't usually all that pretty, but at least I got the female out in the open. The male wouldn't come out for a full view. Next time...maybe. Shot with a Nikon D7000/500mm f/4-P with 1.6x TC, tripod/gimbal head @ 1/400, f/5.6, ISO 320 Full frame cropped to vertical, cloned out (best I could manage) a distracting branch in the background. As always, suggestions and feedback is always appreciated.

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Jeannean,

When I see a picture the first thing that happens to me is, I either connect or don't - in this case I did!

It is beautiful, critically sharp, nice composition, clean eye, muted background, great gesture (pose) and a species I do not often see. Good field technique leveraging a 500MM with a 1.6 on tripod shooting wide open, this is the kind of shot I like to take!


Guess you could take a small layer off the top lets see what others say but like it as posted - just a great moment with nature - really like this one Jeannean!

[Clyde Hopper]

Wow , This one is very good ! No crit to give only praises .

[Mark Jones]

Very nice image! Lovely detail in the feathers.

[Kerry Perkins]

Nice work Jeannean! Excellent exposure, color rendition, and detail. Super pose and head angle with a nice clear eye. My only suggestion would be to open up the canvas a bit, as the bird feels a little cramped to me. It would not be too difficult to add a little canvas to the top and right edges of the frame. Well done!

[Andrew Merwin]

I agree with the above comments—especially the idea to add more canvas if you have it. A truly lovely image. TFS.

[Jeannean Ryman]

Thanks everyone! I appreciate the feedback. I didn't have any extra canvas on the height, so added a bit and extended it a little to the right as well. Not a whole lot, but it does give it a little more room.

[Kerry Perkins]

Jeannean, excellent job on adding canvas! The extra space was all this image needed. To my eye the composition feels much more balanced. Really nice image.