Is this crop to loose?

[Richard Gollar]

A69Y0547-Edit by rgollar, on Flickr

Canon 1Dx
400mm f5.6l lens
f/5.6
ISO 4000
1/2000

[Glennie Passier]

Yep. For my taste, the crop is too loose. Beautiful bird and I really like the BG colours. A tighter crop may get rid of a bit of the distracting OOF sticks.

[Richard Gollar]

I like this crop better but I wasnt sure if it was to tight?
A69Y0547-REdit by rgollar, on Flickr

[Andrew Harrell]

Richard: I like the re-post better, but wonder if you need a little more room on the right. Let's see what others think.

What I really like about your photo is the dead-on focus. Job well done there!

Pretty little bird -- what specie, if you know?


AP

[Diane Miller]

I could go with either, but I lean toward the repost, too. That camera and lens should give you excellent quality to allow that much crop, and it looks like it has. Glennie has a good point about moving the bird just a little more left in the frame -- just a little.

If you are inclined, you could try some cleanup on the BG but it could be a job. Maybe some of the brighter tones on the reeds could be brought down. I don't mind natural backgrounds and at least this one is out of focus, and the excellent detail on the bird brings it forward very nicely.

[Richard Gollar]

The bird I think is a Downy woodpecker. Im pretty sure the woodpecker with a shorter beak is a Downy and the one with a long beak is a hairy woodpecker.

[Diane Miller]

I didn't mention it before but there is some blue creeping into the blacks. It can be difficult to decide where it should be fixed vs. what is accurate sky color.