Spotted Towhee

[Paul Kusmin]

Hey all, I just sold my old digiscoping equipment and bought a new computer and monitor (since the video card was fried and the old HP 540n couldn't keep up) and am hoping my calibration settings are more consistent now.

Anyways, took this shot in the light rain and overcast conditions yesterday morning.
Gave me a chance to use the rain cover my wife sewed together for the big lens and I must say it works pretty darned well.

D300 + 500mm f4 AFS-1 + 1.4x teleconverter
A Priority
Exposure: 1/80
Aperture: f/8.0
Focal Length: 700 mm
ISO Speed: 800
Exposure Bias: -1/3 EV
Flash: No Flash

Thanks for looking.

[Harold Davis]

hi paul, nice detail and pose on your towhee. the bird is a little large in the frame for my tastes and the branches that are cutting through the tail feathers are a little distracting. easily cleaned up if you see fit too. i love the red eye on this guy!!

[Fabs Forns]

Great critique by Harold. I didn't measure it, but I think the image size is bigger than the 1024 pixels on the horizontal side.
Please repost a smaller size if it's not too inconvenient.

It is a gorgeous bird!

[Alfred Forns]

Fully agree with Harold's comments It is a gorgeous bird and so well presented, sharp, well exposed and great pose !!! Excellent !!!

[Paul Kusmin]

Great critique by Harold. I didn't measure it, but I think the image size is bigger than the 1024 pixels on the horizontal side.
Please repost a smaller size if it's not too inconvenient.

It is a gorgeous bird!

Thanks for the C&C everyone.
Fabs, I realized my mistake minutes after posting the original and re-posted a smaller one.
Hope it's all good now.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I agree with the above critiques, and I would add that you should even out the whitish glow in front of the bird's bill. Excellent pose on this guy, and stunning eye!! If already cropped, then adding some canvas back above should take care of the "tightness" issue.

[Arthur Morris]

All good stuff above. I would like to see the blacks a bit blacker. It looks as if you might have overdone SH-Highlight a bit. I love the sharpness and the head angle.