Junco

[Mark Schack]

This fellow actually sat still long enough for me to position myself a little. Did I get the sun and head angle correct? I wanted to move further left but he flew.

This was a fairly large crop so I'm thinking that is why he is a little soft. I took out some other branches, rotated the canvas and used auto levels for sharpening and brightness. Thanks for your comments

Nikon D40
Lens: VR 150-500mm F/5-6.3 G
Focal Length: 500mm
Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority
1/320 sec - F/11
Exposure Comp.: 0 EV
Sensitivity: ISO 200
White Balance: Auto

[Alfred Forns]

HI Mark
Tough bird to expose Is see the belly is just on the hot side but still need more exp for the darker areas !!! Real soft light is about the only way.

Any large crop will show any little imperfection in a big way, quality loss !! As presented would try lightening the darker areas but as you know will introduce noise. Framing wise might move down toward the lower right some more !!! Small birds in frame always look best in corners !!!

[denise ippolito]

Hi Mark, Alfreds advice is good as usual-I never had the opp. to shoot one of these-I'll bet they are hard to expose, Thanks for sharing and Happy Holidays to you!

[Gus Cobos]

Hi Mark,
very good advise given by Mr. Forns and Denise...I would crop 1/4 from the bottom to eliminate some of the negative space...:cool:

[Lance Peters]

Hi Mark = AL is spot on - have lots of B/W birds here in OZ and soft light is the key, otherwise your whites blow out and the blacks have no detail - overcast days are my favourite days to photograph these types of birds.
looking forward to seeing more :)