Just hanging about

[TonyKyle]

Happy Sunday.

It is a nice day here so I sat outside and grabbed a few pics. Here is one I rather enjoy.

[Randy Stout]

Tony:

Typical nuthatch, upside down!

The lighting was a challenge here, because it has overexposed the neck and breast, while leaving most of the bird in shadows.

You do have a nice catch light.

There is a modest amount of noise showing in the background.

Be sure to post your camera/lens info so we can better understand the creation of your image.

When working a setup with feeders, it usually looks more natural to have a small perch near the feeder that they will land on, allowing you an image with less "hand of man" impact.

Cheers

Randy

[TonyKyle]

Sorry, my bad.

7D with the 70-300 L IS lens (F4-5.6) shooting at ISO 1600. Exp was 1/1250 @ F5.6.

Yes, the lighting was a challenge today but I still like this image and I feel the composition is just fine.

I was sitting on the porch and there were shrubs between me and the feeders so a perch would not have helped in this case.

The noise was left in because to remove it might obscure other details or make the image too smooth. It was a post processing decision on my part.

This was also the second cropping of the image. The original (portrait) crop had more of the feeder in the image. For me, this crop is stronger.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Yes, your biggest issue here is light quality and angle. Using a setup is best as Randy points out, unless you do want the man-made feeder in. In that case you can move it (if you can) to a location with better light or in complete shade. As far as NR goes, you can apply that to only the background, this way you retain details on your subject.

Nuthatches sure are fun to watch, and the pose you got here shows just how entertaining they can be at something as simple as feeding.