Carolina Wren

[Bill Dix]

I was patiently staking out a Gnatcatcher nest last May when this Carolina Wren landed just about at my MFD. Light through the canopy was somewhat dappled, but he gave me a nice pose for just a second, until he realized I was so close to him.

D7000, 500f4, ISO 1000, 1/400s @ f/7.1 manual, fill @ +1.3

[gail bisson]

"My, what big feet you have Grandma!" is the first thing I thought of when I saw this image.
Great looking eye and nice fill flash. I couldn't tell you used it.
I am never successful when it comes to dappled light so I am envious of how nice this looks.
I wish for a bit more separation between the beak and perch.
I would also clone out the straight bright green leaf above and left of the head.I might even be tempted to get rid of all that vegetation in LUC. I do like the leaf in LLC though!
GOOS SHARPNESS AND IQ AND NICE BG OVERALL,
GAIL

[Karl Egressy]

Nice pose and background, Bill.
The head position is centered, but not much can be done as the tail needs space.
I was wondering what if you would move the bird a bit higher in the frame.

[Lyle Gruby]

I can see the temper tantrum he's probably about to throw! Really nice IQ and use of flash. I hadn't noticed any flash used either. I'd definitely clone out that brighter leaf to the left of the bird's head and perhaps just burn down that corner a little.

[Arthur Morris]

Nice pose as you noted. The shaded head is less than ideal...

[Bill Dix]

Thanks everyone. Here's a repost with the one bright leaf removed. I've also dodged the shaded area around the cheek just slightly. I think the fill flash helped to mitigate the uneven lighting on him, but didn't make it go away entirely.