Grasshopper Sparrow

[Isaac Grant]

I went to a grassland in New Jersey (Negri-Neopte) last Friday and had loads of great opportunities to shoot some of the local grassland species. I will be posting some other shots but this particular shot is a shot I have been after for quite a while. I wanted a shot with mostly the head/eye in focus like this and the rest just fading away. So I kept my fstop as low as possible and lucked out when this Grasshopper Sparrow came in close to where I was set up.

Canon 7d2 and Canon 500 f4 ii +1.4x iii. ISO 400, SS 1/4000, F 5.6. On tripod. Focus on the eye.

Converted in DPP 4. Auto white balance. In PS I did very little except apply noise reduction to background and smart sharpen (although I don't think it did anything as I saw no difference before and after). Also cloned out 2 small leaves that were closer and a bit distracting. Full frame.

[Randy Stout]

Isaac: Certainly looks like you got the effect you were after. (shallow DOF). Well exposed, sharp, like the angle and scale of the perch.

In general I would prefer a bit more DOF. The entire bird certainly doesn't have to be in focus, but perhaps a bit more doc. Personal choice of course.

I could see several crop options based on his angled perch and gaze direction. Might try a version with a bit off the right and left. Yes, that would make it more square, but move him out of the center of the frame a bit. Because he is looking downward to our left, I think you can get by without as much on the left. Just options to consider.

Cheers

Randy

[William Dickson]

Hi Issac. Nice looking bird and thanks for sharing, as I have never seen one before. I do like the detail on the head and I like the BG. Personally I would prefer the whole bird sharp, I don't think the OOF perch enhances the image.

Will

[Isaac Grant]

Thanks for the input guys. I tried a bunch of crops but kept coming back to full frame. I have lots of frames with the whole bird sharp. I will post a few different poses later on of others from different parts of the grassland. I know this type of shot is not for everyone but one that I was after. I could easily see how the out of focus branch does not add to the image. It is one of the reasons I posted this one to get other peoples input.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Isaac, sharp where it counts, and lover the head turn looking down the line of the perch. I do like the OOF BG, and I can see a version with the Sparrow moved up to the URC.

[David Salem]

Nice looking bird with lots of great colors. I agree about the DOF and I agree with Stu about having the bird in the upper right a bit more but otherwise looks like you got what you were after. Well done