F. Western Bluebird on Juniper

[Richard Stern]

At the South Rim, Grand Canyon, on our recent trip to Az.

D300, Nikon 80-400. ISO200, 1/250. f8.0. Pattern metering. No flash.

Richard

[Tony Whitehead]

I like the soft colours and the juniper. Light direction wasn't ideal as a lot of the bird is in shade. Are you sure there was no flash, Richard? - looks like a very bright little highlight in the eye and flash would have been a useful option to open up the shadows. Head angle is good.

[Rene' Villela]

Really nice! Very sharp and such pastel tones! Thank you!

[Richard Stern]

Apologies - I did use fill-flash on this one. I took many others without, and I forgot to look at the exif data before posting. Well-spotted, Tony.

Richard

[Tony Whitehead]

Apologies - I did use fill-flash on this one. I took many others without, and I forgot to look at the exif data before posting. Well-spotted, Tony.

Richard

Good decision to use the flash to open up the shaded side of the bird.

[Arthur Morris]

Love the soft light, the COMP, the sharpness, and the excellent use of flash. The only thing that bugs me is the smudgy gray area below the tail. Did you do some Photoshop work there?

[Richard Stern]

Hi, and thank you for the response. The smudgy gray area below the tail is an out of focus top of a bush way in the background, and I think the problem is actually that I didn't do any photoshop work on it, and probably should have cloned it out.


Richard

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Richard. It would not be too tough to fix.