D90; 80-400 @ 360mm; ISO 640, 1/640 s. @ f/5.6. Matrix metering, 0EV; Aperture priority; WB-A, AF-A.
I sat semi-concealed in some tall grasses the other day, watching a very active thicket for an hour or so. Saw five species of Sparrows, along with Warblers and Kinglets, and got my first capture of a Swamp Sparrow. Unfortunately all of the birds chose to stay deep within the thicket most of the time, and when this fellow did perch very near me it was in a spot with a very difficult BG rather than the perch I had wished him to use -- thus the tight crop to avoid a lot of adjacent tangled shrubbery, and the poor DOF on the bird. C&C appreciated as always.
Hi Bill - Ditto denise - IMHO a tad more DOF would have helped a bit here, BG does not bother me too much - although it does feel a little tight for my tastes.
Good HA and eye contact!!
Good show :)
Hi Bill,
I like the capture and pose on your little guy. Agree with a tad more selective sharpening, the background is fine, the bird is in it's natural habitat. Looking forward to your next one...:cool:
Hi Bill, your repost really uncovered the detail we didn't see in the op...I might back it off just a tiny bit. Finding the right amount of sharpening is one of my challenges. I like the expression you've captured.
Really nice pose, HA and eye contacts. The feather details are excellent. More DOF would be nice, however you manage to get the eye in focus which is a critical part. I also like how you get both feet too. Background a bit busy but no big deal.
Hi Bill Not much you can do about the dof in these close up images, even stopping down will be minimal but will bring the bg into play. I find having the eye razor sharp will get you by without any problems. The re post did get the eye better but would not call it critically sharp. With these close ups it is tough !!!
This bird is darned hard to get a photograph of. Almost impossible, so I think this is pretty cool. I actually like the softer first post, its not as flat looking. Great shot!
Swamp Sparrow
