White-throated Sparrow

[Ed Vatza]

This image was made this morning along a hedgerow in a Lehigh Valley (PA) parkway using my Canon 30D and 70-200 f/2.8L IS handheld.

1/320 sec at f/4.0; ISO 400; EC +1/3; Focal Length 200mm

Image was cropped from 3504x2336 to 2674x1770.

[Jim Poor]

What a puffy little one this is. I don't mind the branches and such because that's pretty much where you'll find this species. The bright spots of sky showing through however, are a little overwhelming.

There is a lot of detail in the feathers just ahead of the wing (not really the breast) but the wing itself looks odd to me for some reason. It could be as simple as worn plumage or something causing a "soft spot" there.

[Grace Scalzo]

These white throated sparrows certainly can be a challenge. Personally, I like including some habitat with them, but this seems a bit much. Also, the comp to me feels unbalanced, bird is too big. Perhaps you could minimize both issues by recomposing? Give him a little more room from head to tail and crop out some of the left side? Just an idea.

[Ed Vatza]

What a puffy little one this is. I don't mind the branches and such because that's pretty much where you'll find this species. The bright spots of sky showing through however, are a little overwhelming.

There is a lot of detail in the feathers just ahead of the wing (not really the breast) but the wing itself looks odd to me for some reason. It could be as simple as worn plumage or something causing a "soft spot" there.

Thanks for the feedback, Jim. I appreciate the critique. While it doesn't really matter in the final analysis, there are obviously bright spots but its not sky. It's a wide open area on the other side of the hedgerow. But it is certainly bright. No getting away from that.

I made a whole series of images of this particular bird from different distances as I moved closer with my 70-200 at 200mm. The image posted is the closest of the series. The wing looks like that in all the images. So it may just be worn plumage. Don't know.

[Ed Vatza]

Hi Ed,

Unfortunately the busy BG is very distracting allowing to get lost looking at everything else but your main subject. I know this is not an easy bird to photograph but keep trying![/quote]

Thanks for the critique. Appreciate your efforts. You must see these things in your sleep! :eek:

I must have a bazillion White-throat images and probably 99% of them have a busy background. :) The 1% that don't are OOF! :eek:

While busy backgrounds don't bother me as much as it does others, I understand where you are coming from. I will always continue to work for a better image.

Thanks again.

[Ed Vatza]

These white throated sparrows certainly can be a challenge. Personally, I like including some habitat with them, but this seems a bit much. Also, the comp to me feels unbalanced, bird is too big. Perhaps you could minimize both issues by recomposing? Give him a little more room from head to tail and crop out some of the left side? Just an idea.

Thanks for the feedback, Grace. I could try to recompose. There is a little room all the way around but I was very close to the bird and he does pretty much fill the image. But like I said, I could add a bit and see how it looks.