Despite the terrible weather here in the UK, I popped out early this morning to try and grab a few shots before the rain came. This was taken in quite hard light as it was a strong side light despite being shot at 6am. Saying that, I'm pretty pleased with the outcome and the damselflies add some interest.
7D, 500mm + 1.4X converter, ISO 640, f5.6, 1/640ss. Post processing in LR4 and PS CC.
Hi Simon, super pose showing off his meal, and the colours on the sparrow look good. The harsh light is only really showing up on the leafy perch, and I would try and tone down the brighter ones. If you have more room below, I would liked to have seen the bottom leaves not cut off.
The light quality has been manged very well here, excellent exposure work. I think Stuart's advice regarding tinkering with toning down the brighter highlights is a great idea. Composition wise, I think the image looks great. The food item is cool...good eye contact from the prey item too. Wish the bird's head had been turned slightly towards you, but realize that it's a bit preoccupied with chick raising....Thanks for the ID. I was going to ask...
A better head angle would have put this over the top, but all else looks good to me. I'm always amazed seeing parent birds with multiple prey items in their bills!