Sage Thrasher

[WillieHall]

I have been looking for Sage Thrashers for several weeks at an area I frequent in Nevada. They finally migrated in from the south and this was the best I could do for the first chance at seeing them. 1/4000, 7.1, ISO 800 with 7D, 100-400 L lens on Oben monopod. It is cropped about 30% with little PP.
What can I learn from this photo? (still no time to learn RAW processing...its a JPEG)

[Carolyn Arnesen]

I like the muted colors here and how the background echoes the colors in the bird. My attention is drawn to the beautiful eye. I'm not sure I can tell you anything you don't already know Willie. I have a lot to learn myself - just giving you a subjective reaction. I think I would take some off the top.

[Diane Miller]

I also like the muted color palette, and would also crop from the top, halfway to the head, but other than that it looks good to me. I don't know the bird's color -- you might experiment with Color Balance. The environment looks very interesting, with the sage (?) perch and OOF BG very pleasing.

When you get into raw processing you'll be able to bring out more shadow detail, as in under the wing, but this isn't bad.

[David Kenny]

Nice shot. You did I great job isolating the bird and it is nice and sharp. The colors do seem muted to me as well. I wonder if that had to do with harsh light or the white balance that you used? There is some extra space above the bird but I think the image still works. If I was to be picky it seems like the bird is looking a little away from you but I would still keep it.

[BillTyler]

My only suggestion is to try to minimize the visual effect of the tail cutting across the plant stems. A wider aperture might have blurred them enough to make them less noticeable.

Bill

[WillieHall]

thanks ALL for the constructive comments. Bill, I always worry about DOF so don't like to go below f/7.1, but I should experiment more. Also Bill, I am learning to try and get a full outline of the bird since your point about the tail I agree with. Yes David, I agree with head angle, but will keep it because its just what happens outdoors and it was the best I had :) . This bird is very muted color and I think the image is fairly accurate, so I am not sure what else should be done (maybe I need more clarification). I like to balance the crop with the size of the bird, but will experiment with a little off the top.

[Diane Miller]

With the bird this large in the frame (taking into account the crop), f/7.1 seems about as wide as you want to go. You can't get all the bird in the same focus plane. Colors appear to be an accurate rendition of the scene -- good work! Keep at it!