It was a cold and overcast day, but the snow on the ground provided a nice soft light. I left the image a bit dark to be true to the scene. I separated the image into 2 layers, did a bit of sharpening and levels to the foreground, and light blurring of the background.
Thanks Shane. I do have the room, but cropped it as shown intentionally, to break out of the traditional 1/3rds approach and to try something different. Perhaps it didn't work in this case. Appreciate your advice.
I like your nuthatch...the open bill always adds interest as do the little feet gripping the branch. Might as well go ahead and smooth out that upper left corner as viewed to totally even out the background. I'm certainly not a pro, but here is my thought on the crop and my reasoning behind it. Just like when a bird has his legs and feet underwater, we like to leave room as if we could see them (virtual feet). In this case, the bird is not in profile. If he were, his tail side would be very close to the edge. The amount of room on the right doesn't bother me, but the lack of room on the left does. Hope that this makes sense, and again, it's just my own opinion.