White Throat

[mikedelaney]

canon 40D
70-300mm.
f 10
1/500 s.
ISO 800

sparrows are pretty birds too. i hope this goes through as intended.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I agree, sparrows are good models, always good to see this species. I like the eye contact and don't mind the busy BG too much. The plumage looks not very detailed, maybe a heavy crop or maybe due to your sharpening technique?

[mikedelaney]

thanks alex for your critique. i pulled a little trick with this bird and you caught that there was some lack of detail in the plumage. the bird was heavily shaded on its lower body and i tried to get rid of it. i guess the details tell the tale.

[Daniel Cadieux]

This looks like one proud individual...I like the round-chested pose. I agree with Axel's critique. I personally find the BG a little busy, more specifically the bright branch behind the bird and the diagonal one growing out from behind its' head. I do like the "woodsy" feel.

[Maxis Gamez]

Besides everything said, I would remove some of the noise.

[Beth Goffe]

Another nice one, Mike. I have a 40D, too, and i find the noise really shows up when you shoot with 800 ISO. But, at least you gain in shutter speed which helps with the sharpness of your subject. I might also take just a little bit more from the left side so it's a little more off-center.

[Arthur Morris]

Love this species--we do not see them in FLA. The basic COMP is good, but the image quality is--as noted above--very poor: too bright, too noisy, and lacking density and detail. In addition, filtered light--sun and shade mixed--is an image killer.

Do you have a place to set up a feeder???

[mikedelaney]

thanks everyone for the advice. i was intent on seeing if anyone would 'call me' on the shadow theme. i was so intent that i forgot every other ''basic'' technique that i should have used so that i would be able to tell if the original shadow reduction could be addressed. the background probably caused everyone to stop there and forget anything else that was presented.

i'm not sorry that i used the shadow reduction, but i am sorry that i used it so very much amaturishly. i do have a feeder, it is, in the summer, quite shady. it will be better in the fall. i use a tripod and sometimes use an off camera shutter release. believe me, if the bird breathes i see it in my photo. i have a very small back yard and don't get out much.

i'm sorry if i caused a problem.
mike

[Arthur Morris]

Hi Mike, You need to set up your feeders with attractive perches nearby that are set against distant BKGRs. A good set-up will make it much easier to get clean looking images. And you have caused no problems at all. We are here to help you get better.