Spotted Towhee

[Diane Miller]

Shot this a week ago. 7D2, 400 DO II + 1.4X III, ISO 800, f/8, 1/200 sec, handheld. Cloudy day.

Basic LR adjustments then into PS for some BG cleanup and a little NR, but the latter was hardly needed.

[Randy Stout]

Diane:

Very nice look back pose, with good DOF on bird, sharp, well exposed. The subtle lighter areas behind the head makes the head pop from the background.
The OOF foreground vegetation is just a bit distracting, but the bird is so good that it takes a couple of look arounds at the image before it jumps out.

Cheers

Randy

[Glennie Passier]

You are spending way too much time over in the "avian" Diane! This is very nice. Feather details and colours are good, as is the BG. I like the very soft green tinge. The OOF stuff in front..I would agree with Randy but not a big deal for me.

[Karl Egressy]

Nice looking back pose and perch. The bottom light OOF branch as well as a couple of them at the bottom could be worked on.

[Diane Miller]

Thanks everyone! He landed there unexpectedly (not a staged perch but a wild growth of scrub rosemary) and I grabbed a shot then moved a few inches to try to clear those OOF branches, and he promptly moved a few feet. Out of sight. These guys don't sit still. The OOF stuff at the bottom border is OOF enough that it doesn't bother me, but I could darken it. The one touching the tail, I darkened as much as seemed reasonable. Will keep trying on this guy -- he comes when I toss out seed every morning but mostly stays on the ground. And I've pruned out that intervening branch, in case he lands in the same spot again.

[gail bisson]

This is excellent.
I particularly love the IQ and details in the towhee.
Perfect model look back pose.
I am fine with the foliage at the bottom of the frame.
I am a sucker for grey BG so I really like this image.
Comp is excellent for my taste.
Re: pruning the offending branch: I have pruned so many branches in our backyard in the hopes "that the bird will land there again" that some of our trees and bushes look bald. Hubby said no more!! My problem is that all that pruning has never scored me a repeat chance. Hope you do better than me!
Gail

[Ritesh Nangare]

Wow What An exposer .... great feel in the frame , love the head turn, and Beautiful Details all over ....

[Daniel Cadieux]

The look-back pose is just about perfect. Great look at the dorsal plumage, and the eye is really cool. Colours and sharpness are A-1. Nice of that bush to open up a gap for the tail like that! I could see a version with the towhee a tad more to the left.

[Diane Miller]

Thanks, everyone! I neglected to say this is a crop from a horizontal so I could bring in more on the right. I had another look at the original file and I see this was taken down to 30% of the original frame. I was experimenting with hand-holding the 400 + 1.4X but really should use the 600 + 1.4X for this spot, as I could stay a little more hidden behind a bush.

I agree, pruning is more successful as exercise. This morning when I put out bird seed there was a Golden-Crowned Sparrow on that same branch, but it was too dark to shoot anything. You're right, I'll probably never get another bird there when I'm ready for it, but the rosemary springs were a nice addition to a pork roast.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Excellent shot my only very minor gripe is the very much OOF blurred green areas at the base/bottom right.

[Glenn Conlan]

Great capture, I have these in my yard but they are always on the ground. Like the pose and colors

[adrian dancy]

A fine pose by this bird with a magic looking eye!
The OOF leaves are a distraction but not major. Hand held at 1/200 impressive. The IS comes into its own. Nice work Diane.

[Jim Crosswell]

Beautiful image Dianne! I like the pose, perch, IQ and clean BG.