This picture was taken in Estado de Mexico; right before the summer shower we get every day in this season. I approached this bird step by step until I was close enough to make some images I liked. Let me know what you think.
1DMKIII
500mm + 1.4TC
ISO 800
1/640
f:7.1
Handheld
I really like the light and contrast here, the comp is VERY nice IMO. Great HA, nice pose, detail and BG, that long perch looks great too.
Congratulations!
I'm usually not a great fan of compositions where the perch is dominating the bird in the frame but this one seems to work really nicely. The birds and perch stand out nicely against the multi toned BG.
I especially love the LONG perch and the way the background complements it and the bird. Those two things make this much more than a 'bird on a stick' image. They are equal parts of the beauty of the image.
I think that in an otherwise attractive image, the perch is a bit too dominant, and that the bird seems somewhat constrained at the top.
I would crop out about 1/3 of the bottom of the perch, and give the bird correspondingly more space above. Otherwise, this is a pleasing image of an interesting avian character.