Eastern Bluebird male

[Keith Kennedy]

I captured this Eastern Bluebird male (with one wing raised) this morning near a local golf course in Racine, WI. Canon EOS 40D; Canon 500 mm f4.0 + 1.4 converter; exposure mode = AV; metering = evaluative; exposure comp -1/3; ISO 800; f8; 1/250s; Canon 580 fill flash @ -2; Gitzo 1325 tripod. Cropped ca. 10% from the right edge; CS3 levels, curves, selective sharpening, noise reduction (Neat Image).

[Kobus Tollig]

Great pose here well done. I would like some more space all round and i would tone down the image. Looks a bit bright. Well done on getting this

[Daniel Cadieux]

Neat pose, and the look-back head angle looks just about right. Did it flinch because of the flash? I've seen some birds react like that because of flash. The blues are a little too electric - it would do no harm to desat them some. Perch is not the prettiest IMO, and the comp would have been nicer without the TC (or backing up more) as I feel the subject tight in the frame (plus I'm not fond of the end of perch being clipped). Good sharpness, and the green BG sets off the Bluebird nicely :-)

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Angle, look-back pose and sharpness look good. Another vote for a wider crop and less saturation.

[Stu Bowie]

I like the stretching posture, and as Im not familiar with their colours, I will have to go with the others - but I actually like those blues.

[Keith Kennedy]

Regarding 'wing waving'--this is a common behavior in Bluebirds. The male can be observed exhibiting this behavior at various times but especially as part of courtship behavior. I was particularly interested in capturing this behavior. It is definitely not related to the use of a fill flash. Many thanks for the helpful comments.

Keith

[Richard Stern]

Nice pose and background, but the blues, and the perch seem too bright and over-saturated - looks more like a Mountain Bluebird! And the eye could use some darkening.

Richard

[Arthur Morris]

Hey Keith, Great too see you here in Avian. The MODs and members are too well trained: reducing the BLUE saturation and a bit more room all around would be great. The biggest no-no is clipping the end of the clipped perch. I do not mind the perch but wish of course that it were not clipped.

See you in Quito on Thursday!

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

A treat to the eyes. Love the color of this fellow that reminds me of a Turquoise Cotinga. I only wish for a better perch.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Keith, thanks for explaining the "wing-waving" behaviour :-)

[Harshad Barve]

What a treat and what a colors
Thanks for sharing
Harshad

[David Kennedy]

I'm home for a short time this summer and Dad and I just compared the colors on his monitor and mine (which has a more recent calibration) and determined that his is not showing the colors as accurately as possible--the bluebird is much more subdued on his screen. Time for a recalibration.