I found this little fluff ball doing its famed spiral up a lone tree in a nature reserve in Ottawa. At the time of taking this shot I had managed to sneak up on the tree - get inside the outer branches and closer to the trunk with serious amounts of pine needles sticking in my face I poked my lens through the rest of the foliage and snapped. As soon as the mirror flicked up and then down again the bird had flown off into the distance. I couldn't believe my luck - they are rare in the place I found them and awesome little birds. I can't believe how excellent their camouflage is. They look like a piece of the bark.
D300 - 70-300 @ 300mm
ISO 800
1/320 @ f / 5.6
No Tripod
No Flash
Aperture Priority
Metering: Pattern
0ev
C & C Always welcome - Don't go easy - I want to learn
compositionally i might add a little canvas up top. exposure looks great as well as the details in the bird. just wish to have a better head angle to feel connected with the bird. i think you did absolutely great with what you had. i like the image!
Hi Rob,
I like the capture and base image...You have good sharp details with a good head angle and sharp eye...your whites on the bird are running at 240, a wee bit too hot...I adjusted your image by toning down the whites on the bird, and adjusting the mid-tones...I gave you a boost of saturation and contrast...also cropped it tighter...see if this presents well to you...:cool: