Indigo Bunting

[Karen Forderer]

Finally saw an Indigo Bunting this morning. I've been trying to find one for a while. He kept coming back to the same tree and then landed on some plants a little lower. I only got two shots before he flew off again. It was very windy and hard to keep focus. I'm wondering if I should clean up any of the background behind him.
Thanks for looking.
Karen

[gail bisson]

Hi Karen,
This is a nice shot.
I like the composition with the twig on the diagonal. Perch is a perfect size for the bird.
I would definitely clean up the BG OOF branches behind the bird and to the left.
I would also burn the bright green leaves and dodge the shadowed side of the bunting a swell.
Don't forget to post your exif data,
gail

[vishaljadhav]

Nice perch and a great pose for the bird, bird looks sharp
in a perfect world we would have always got perfect BGs ,however its not always possible , however i like the suggestion from gail of burning the green leaves , it will make the bird pop out more

[Alan Murphy]

Without seeing your techs, I would say that some fill flash would improve the image. I like the comp and alert pose.

[Karen Forderer]

Sorry, I was so excited to get a shot of this bird that I forgot to list my exif data.
D300s
80-400mm at 400 at 400
ISO 640
f8
1/1000 sec
no flash

Thanks for the critique. I will try working on the background. I only had a minute to take a couple of shots and when I tried to move the lit side of the bird, he was off. After that, he was higher in the tree. Now that I know where he lives, I'll be back to see him again.

[David Salem]

Good looking shot Karen. The bird looks well exposed and sharp. I dont mind the BG to much, just dont like the light spot touching the Rt side. Otherwise a fine capture of a beautiful species.

[dankearl]

The BG doesn't bother me.
I would just tone down the leaves as Gail suggested.
i would love to have a photo of an Indigo Bunting.

[PhilCook]

Lovely shot and congratulations on seeing this bird after hoping for a while.

never easy to get a quick grab shot among the trees, so not too bad at all considering.

I'd be inclined to remove the bright leaf on the left, darken the other leaves a little and crop a bit more from the top to where the branch meets the edge

[Daniel Cadieux]

Still a nemesis bird for me photography-wise, and I've seen a good number of them. Nice composition and perch. I'm thinking opening up the lens would have helped with the BG, maybe not so much the leaves but for the longer scraggly OOF twigs.

[Loi Nguyen]

Karen, nice capture of a beautiful bird. You have had good suggestions above. I find the catch light in the eye a little bit blurry. I'd suggest darken the black part of the eye and brighten the catch light a little to give it one spark. Was it a crop and if so by how much? Loi