One more from the kayak trip last weekend with Judd. Overcast conditions gave nice saturated colors.
I'm thinking I maybe should stick to landscapes cause I seem to like my bird shots not tight enough and with something besides a perfectly smooth background. :D
Paul, there's a market for everything, some editors may like to show the habitat as you do in this image.
The important part is that you are happy with the image you created :)
Composition is good, and with the bg so close to the subject, there's no way you could have done different!
Paul, I like the pose and head turn. It bothers me a bit that the tip of the beak is so soft but it looks like the light was low enough that a smaller aperature wasn't possible. The BG works just fine for me.