Back off, buddy

[wendell westfall]

D70s 70-200VR 2X @250mm 1/1250 f5.6 ISO400 OEV

Yesterday morning I spied these two GBHs high up (about 60') in a dead tree. They pecked at each other from time to time; I do not know what their behavior signified. I cropped the image in a way I hoped would accentuate height, using a 2:3 ratio. I did do some work on the image in Elements, in addition to the usual NR and sharpening. Do you think the crop is effective?

Wendell

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Very nice Wendell, the only thing I would do is de-saturate the blue in the sky. Nice behavioural capture!

[Alfred Forns]

Agree with Jackie and sure wish you could have found them lower down the tree !!! I'm sure its a breeding behavior .... both in breeding plumage !!!

[Lance Peters]

Hi Wendell - like the action - agree with jackie on toning down the blue sky a bit.

The angle of capture is a bit steep - changing to a bigger telephoto lens (if of course you had one) would give the impression that the angle was not quite as steep - the loger the focal length - the lesser the angle appears.

Keep them coming :)

[Gus Cobos]

Hi Wendell.
All of the good suggestions have been addressed...I like the capture...this is very nice...you have good details and good color rendition on the birds...:cool:

[Kerry Perkins]

Good one Wendell. Well done. I like the interplay of the legs and branches and breeding plumage capture.