One Cold Roadrunner

[Bonnie Block]

Photographed outside of the visitor center at White Sands NM.
We took a drive to White Sands from Bosque--it had snowed so it just looked like snow fields.:)
So the highlight of the day was this guy--and apparently he was not too happy about conditions. I have the whole bird, but he was standing on a concrete path.

Canon 7D 300/2.8 IS
1/1000s f/6.3 at 300.0mm iso400

[Chris van Rooyen]

I really enjoy this image Bonnie. The greyish background reflected in the similar coloured feathers, the pin sharp eye, and the lovely feather texture, makes this a very pleasing image.

[Danny J Brown]

Hi Bonnie Block - I'm really loving this shot. The feathers over the eye area are sublime and the rest of the bird is only fabulous (smile). Bokeh is sweet and composition is very thoughtful. There is a little sharpening halo around the beak on my 24" screen but I'm not complaining!!!!!!!!! Awesome.

[Steve Large]

Hi Bonnie,
Nice mixture of textures here. I might be tempted to take that bit of food off of his beak but that is about it as regards changes. Good color, feather detail, and sharpness. I love the mixture of what seems to be tiny hairs and feathers.

Steve

[Jim Crosswell]

Nice feather detail in this close-up. Looks like he is trying to max out the warmth of those feathers!

[denise ippolito]

Bonnie, Excellent fine feather detail. I love the eye! The BG worked out perfectly! Beautiful!!

[Marina Scarr]

Bonnie. I can just say that I am VERY envious!

[Harshad Barve]

Excellent eye contact and great feather details

Bonnie. I can just say that I am VERY envious!

+1 here
TFS

[Mack Hicks]

I'm glad you told us it was a RR. He is really puffed up to keep warm. Lovely detail.

[Ramon M. Casares]

I love the mood, it tells the story perfectly. IMO it looks oversharpened, but that is an easy fix :) Congratulations!

[allanrube]

Beautiful portrait. Very sharp. Perhaps you do need to tone down the sharpening though - the rr looks too hard.

[Kiran Poonacha]

Loved the mood here, nice details and eye contact...

[Jan Fourie]

very good portrait closeup with nice eye contact ,feather detail,colours,exp and comp
jan

[david cramer]

Add me to the list of the few who think this looks oversharpened. Often the sharpening of feathers leads it to have a wirebrush look to my eyes, but this is an easy fix if you should agree. It's a matter of opinion, and most seem to prefer the sharpening you've applied. Otherwise, I love the image. It has great composition and detail, and the bg is pleasing. The poor bird really looks cold! From seeing your images, it looks like you had a good visit to my fair state.

[Bonnie Block]

Thanks for your comments on this guy everyone.
Yes--to me now it looks oversharpened. I am not used to the 300/2.8 naked! The original RAW file is very sharp in itself. Easy to go overboard.
David--yes!--I had a great time in your state--and will surely be back!

[arash_hazeghi]

Very beautiful Bonnie, I agree that it is a bit oversharpened but other wise perfect. You came up with a very good comp and BG.