Eastern Phoebe

[Joseph Przybyla]

I captured this image this morning at Circle B Bar Reserve in Polk County, Florida. I guess I wish the perch was more slender but then the feet would not show as they do. Seeing the feet stretched out I a always amazed how delicate the appendages are, wonderful creation. Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.

Nikon D500
Nikon 80-400mm F/4.5-5.6 VRII AF-S ED, image captured at 400mm
1/2000 F/5.6 Matrix Metering EV -2/3 ISO 280 Auto 1 WB, camera supported by a monopod
Post processed in Lightroom Classic, Photoshop CC 2020 and Neat Image for noise reduction
Cropped for composition and presentation

P.S. Learn more about Circle B Bar Reserve in the BAA Middle Florida Photography Site Guide that Artie and I co-authored. It is available on the Birds As Art Online Store.

[David Roach]

Love the smooth 3 layered BG to set off this beauty. Sharp where it needs to be and I like the perch. TFS

[James Babbitt]

I too love the feet. IMO nothing wrong with this perch. The 3 layer pastel BG helps to emphasize a bird that is not brightly colored.

[Aditya Sridhar]

Beautiful, pleasing frame, Joe. I love the background and the perch. The vegetation adjacent to the bird provides some scale and does not distract. Personally, I'd place the bird just slightly lower in the frame. I'd also clone out the second catchlight in the eye. Solid image!

[Joseph Przybyla]

Personally, I'd place the bird just slightly lower in the frame. I'd also clone out the second catchlight in the eye. Solid image!

Hi Aditya, good suggestions, easy fix. Here is a edit and repost.

[John Mack]

Love the two toned background and the placement of the lichen on the perch. I don't mind the size of the perch.

[Dorian Anderson]

I like the perch and placement in frame, but the lack or direct eye contact kills this for me. Simple frames like this really need that subject connection to crack.

[Joseph Przybyla]

I like the perch and placement in frame, but the lack or direct eye contact kills this for me. Simple frames like this really need that subject connection to crack.

Hi Dorian, thank you for viewing and commenting, much appreciated. Here is one with a better head angle, I had a few more I had not processed. A looser cropthought the other was too tight and was beginning to lose IQ.