Mistletoe bird

[Paul Burdett]

Hi all,
I took this photo some time ago. Canon 7D, Canon ef100-400 lens, 1/800th sec at f5.6.

[Allen Sparks]

Hi Paul,
Nice that you were able to capture an isolated view of this bird - I like the background. The bird's eye/head seems a bit soft to me - perhaps critical focus was on the body feathers.

[Paul Burdett]

Hi Allen,
Many thanks for the feedback. I'll take on board your comment. Cheers!

[gail bisson]

Hi Paul,
Welcome to BPN and hope you join and become a full member. You will learn a lot.
A good first post and I have to say that I love the name of this bird!
Nice , simple and appropriately sized perch and a nice BG.
Great look back pose as well.
I would like to see a bit more room benind the tail if you have it. I would also lighten up or remove the vertical dark green band intersecting with his head.
I would also clone out the little bit of branch in the left upper corner-just to tidy up.
Some may suggest removing the little spider web thread but I like it.
I agree with Allen that the head is slightly soft because it is out of range of DOF but I think this could be fixed with another round of sharpening just on the face. Beak looks fine,
Gail

[Mike Poole]

Hi Paul, welcome to BPN. Its a great place to learn.

A nice frame, that should be even nicer given the above pointers. The pose on the bird is good, hope to see some more from you

Mike

[Isaac Grant]

Welcome Paul. Great bird against a very nice background. You take this in Australia? Looks like the subspecies with the most red on it. In addition to the great pointers you got already I think there are 2 things that could improve the shot. You were a little off the sun angle. Ideally if you could have gotten a little more to your left you would have had less shadowing on the right side of the bird. Also have a little bit of a less steep shooting angle would create a more intimate/eye level shot. I am very much looking forward to more...

[Paul Burdett]

Thank you all for your feedback. I really appreciate the constructive criticism, and will certainly take it on board. The points raised are valid and is one of the reasons I joined this forum...to improve. Thanks again.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

You take this in Australia?

It's a male Mistletoebird (flowerpecker family) from Australia :)



Agree about shooting angle. All other crits aside, that should be a priority. That is; to try to get as level with the subject as possible for the most intimate point of view (POV).

[Paul Burdett]

Hi Isaac. Yes, taken in Brisbane. Thank you for the suggestions too.

[David Salem]

Welcome Paul. Looks good and lots of great suggestions from the group. Keep up the good work and keep the image is coming. You'll learn a lot from everybody here.

[Paul Burdett]

Hi David. Thank you for the warm welcome. I've been photographing birds for quite a while now, but realize just how much better they can be judging from the photos I've seen on this site. I look forward to learning more, as well as seeing birds from all over the world posted here.