Eastern Bluebird (male).

[Daniel Cadieux]

Lots of blue coloured birds lately! Here is the male perched in good light and a good perch (recognize it!)...one that was fastened near an active nest box to entice them to perch on something other than barbed wire or fence posts. Seems like it worked I'll head over there this weekend as there are likely some hatchlings inside now, hoping to get them perching with a variety of insects in their bills...

Canon 7D + 500mm f4 II + 1.4TC, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/400s., f/8, ISO 800, natural light, full-frame, handheld (take from inside car with lens resting on window opening), darkened pupil and usual basic levels/saturation.

[Randy Stout]

Daniel:

Very nice colors, pose, gradient in bg, exposure and sharpness.

I like the comp as well. Perch is an 'oldie but a goodie' as it has some interesting detail without overpowering the bird.

Are you putting up any blind material in your car to keep it darker so they don't see you so well?

Cheers

Randy

[gail bisson]

It is getting harder and harder to critique your shots because they are so good.
Nothing to dislike- beautiful comp and IQ and light.
Wish we had bluebirds in Cape Breton!
Gail

[shane shacaluga]

Very nice shot! You removed the web from the perch :D

Great details and colours on the bird, wonderful background

OOF tail is the only minor detail, if I had to say something, but does not affect the shot in my opinion

TFS

[Girish Prahalad]

lovely image! great light, IQ & BG.

[David Salem]

Man, you sure get allot of beautiful songbirds up there in spring and summer. I need to go visit my childhood stomping grounds at this time of the year.
Great looking frame Daniel! The light, color and detail are great and the perch and BG set them off beautifully. Very very nice!!

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the pose, perch, details, sharpness, exposure, BG and perfect composition. Excellent image Daniel!

[Joe Murphy]

Detail, colour & BG all top notch, & a great perch for this lovely Bluebird.

[Iain Barker]

Fantastic shot. Love the detail in the bird and the super clean background.
I hope I get my shots as good some day.

[Vivaldo Damilano]

Excellent Dan, perfect composition, stunning colours and love the clarity. The bird and perch is also very sharp, love the smooth BG, nice work.

[Karl Egressy]

Nice perch, background and a good looking bird, Daniel. Good choice on the perch. Sharpness details and DOF are excellent.

[Miguel Palaviccini]

I'm going to have to agree with Gail about critiquing your images. I just like to see them and learn :)

I wouldn't be opposed to your writing an article on how you approach these guys or set up your perches. ;)I enjoyed reading your article on using song to attract birds.

Miguel

[Satish Ranadive]

Daniel Sir,
Excellent image of beautiful bird in beautiful lights.
Love the pose,colors,HA ,wonderful details,perch and lovely composition.
Very nice BG too.

Regards,
Satish.

[Shawn Zierman]

Gorgeous! great light, sweet mullein perch and perfect for the species. I like the background transitions as well.

[Bruce Spell]

I'm going to have to agree with Gail about critiquing your images. I just like to see them and learn :)

I wouldn't be opposed to your writing an article on how you approach these guys or set up your perches. ;)I enjoyed reading your article on using song to attract birds.

Miguel

I would be eager to learn this as well! Is there a link to Daniel's existing article?

[Daniel Cadieux]

Thanks guys! Here are a couple of articles:

This one is short and a bit dated technology-wise.
http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...rds-The-Basics

This one is more recent and updated (you need to scroll down to the Gray Catbird image...the article starts just above that.
http://deniseippolito.com/magazine/a...-edition-2013/

[shane shacaluga]

Thanks a lot for that Daniel. Do you know if it would also work for raptors?

[Daniel Cadieux]

From my limited experience with raptors (and from what I've read) it does not work well with raptors. For those you need other methods such as baiting, owl decoys, finding an active nest (all of those require caution)...or simply stumbling upon an opportunity.

[shane shacaluga]

Thanks

I'm pretty good with the stumbling :D

[MohsenVahedipour]

Lovely colorful bird, pose, perch & BG. Great IQ & light.

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Daniel this is a perfect shot of this little one.