Motif: Behavior

[Doris Dumrauf]

Lunch
I photographed this Gray Catbird eyeing an insect. A moment later, it ate the insect. However, I wasn't fast enough to photograph that...
Canon 10D, 400mm f5.6 lens, 1/640sec, f5.6, ISO 200, no flash
The image is cropped so placement of the bird can be changed easily

Doris Dumrauf
www.dorisdumrauf.com

[Cheryl Flory]

now that's cool. can you make the insect stand out more? perhaps by lightening the bg near it but without having the bg distracting? I might crop more off of the bottom and left side.

[Lisa Williams]

Very nice, Doris. You can see the bird's thought process - "hmm, is he close enough to go after?" Agree with Cheryl on cropping the left side a little.

[Gus Cobos]

Hi Doris,
I like the image. However, your bird is too centered in frame, and the perch is a wee bit over powering. I modified your composition by cropping from the left side of the frame to off center your subject. took off 1/4 from the bottom to tame the perch, and sprinkled a little of selective sharpening on the eye. also burned in a few hot spots on the top portion of the perch...see if you like...:cool:

[Oscar Zangroniz]

Very nice capture of the bird and insect. Like your background and Gus re post.
Congrats

[Harold Davis]

gus nailed it!! absolutely cool capture! did you see the dfly in the viewfinder or was it a lucky find on the computer. it would have been a lucky find for me!!

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Very neat with the insect flying around!

[Desmond Chan]

Cool image, Doris ! I have the same question as Harold's about the insect. Good eyes and observation if you did see it before you even pointed your camera at the bird ! Composition-wise, I think Gus's repost makes your shot look even better.

[Alfred Forns]

Great re post Gus !!!

Excellent capture Doris the insect makes all the difference and didn't get there by accident !!!! Image wise remember your sun angle for illuminating the bird evenly !!!

[Nonda Surratt]

Neato image Doris. Gus's repost is right on

[Lance Peters]

Nicely done doris - Gus's repost complete it. WSell done.

[Doris Dumrauf]

Hi Gus and everybody,
thanks for the great comments and suggestions! I agree that the highlights on the perch are a bit much, but I've never had much luck with burning. It always looks artificial. I'll have to work on that. And I can crop the image any way I want to.
I took a sequence of images of this bird. It was perched next to a pond because it was looking for insects. When I saw the insect approaching, I fired away.
Doris