A recent shot from the photography set-up at our local park. I had thought I set up with a bit more aperture dialed in, but even so, I'm surprised that the DOF is as shallow as it is, since I was at about twice the distance I normally shoot at (the tree favoured by the nuthatches is a few steps behind the perches). The background gradient is from distant marsh grass and snow that was in shadow.
5D mkIV
500mm f/4 IS, 1.4x TC III
1/2000 @ f/7.1, ISO 400
ACR/Photoshop, cropped to about 70% of the original
Classic nut hatch pose, well exposed, interesting bark on trunk, lots of texture. The natural gradient in back is nice, as are the colors that play well with bird and perch.
I might be tempted to try a slightly different crop, so the birds head isn't on the horizontal midline , but a subtle thing really.
Yes, a bit more DOF would have been nice , and you did have plenty of light to allow that.
Hello JAke, I like the classic behavior and also would suggest less tree trunk, and if you can place the bird up top as to give the space below a place he's heading... nice and sharp, can see the chin whiskers. TFS
What an interesting little bird, well captured in this shot, Jake. The composition works well for me but I could imagine there are a lot of other possibilities including a vertical. The only thing I'd change on this is to tone down the highlights just a whisker especially the brightest areas (above the eye and just in front of the wing). Agree with your self-critique about DOF.
Jake - The BG is perfect...the bi tonal bg matches the colors on the nuthatch..I love it. I think you 'cut' the tree in the right spot, and the detail in this little guy is great. I've never had the pleasure to photograph these birds. Thanks for sharing this image.
Nuthatch
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