Song Sparrow portrait

[John Chardine]

I was lucky to catch this foraging Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) on a low juniper in the garden. Heather provides BG purple. The challenge for me was where to crop at the bottom- I wanted to leave this much of the virtual bird in the image but I didn't want it dominated by OOF greenery.

I cropped and ran some NR on BG. Also evened out the tone in the foreground.

Comments of course welcome!

Canon EOS 50D, 500 mm f4 x 1.4 tcII = 700 mm
capture date: Tuesday, 12 May, 2009
exposure program: Aperture Priority
ISO speed: 640
shutter speed: 1/800
aperture: f6.3
exposure bias: +0.0
metering: Pattern
flash: OFF

[Ilija Dukovski]

Great and unusual portrait,
I love the composition, both the subject and the plant.
The curious pose of the sparrow is excellent.
The color patched BG is a bit distracting but does not ruin the overall feel.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the composition, details and sparrow looking what is going on. I like the subtle pink behind the bird and wish the pink in the upper right were less dominant.

[Randy Stout]

John:

I like this a lot. Your bird is sharp, with good exposure and color. I like the composition.

In a perfect world, I would wish for no purple behind the bird itself, and to remove the arching end of the juniper where it turns horizontal. For some reason it draws my eye.

Thanks for sharing.

Randy

[Stu Bowie]

Brilliant DOF, comp works well, and love the peering over the foliage pose. Sharp with good detail, and I agree the OOF BG on the RHS, is too dominant compared to the softer colours of the rest of the BG. A vertical comp would take that away, and take away a bit from the left too.

[Tony Whitehead]

Colours look good to me , I like how the magenta in the heather and plumage work together with the green. I would probably crop more from below (just above the pale area in the centre of the OOF greenery)

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Cute capture and awesome eye contact. The exposure is spot on with excellent detail. Congratulations on your timing John.

[Ramon M. Casares]

Very nice comp, love the subtle touches of colors in the BG, great detail and soft light. Congratulations!

[Steve Canuel]

Neat shot. I had the theme from Mission Impossible pop into my head when I opened this :). I like the sharpness of the bird in comparison with his surroundings. I also like the color patches in the BG. Crop looks good as presented but I think you could've come up about a cm higher and still been effective.