American Robin and the snowfall

[Dave Blinder]

Verona, NJ

Subject may be centered, but I like the berries on the pavement too much to crop them out! I wanted to keep the brightness down on this series as it was a typical dark dreary overcast winter day in New Jersey... tried to set a mood.

I was laying on the ground here, getting down and dirty. I think I may have needed a hair more DOF to get fine detail on the bird, but for my likings this is more of a conceptual than documentary capture. Post Processing: NR on BG, High Pass sharpening on bird, small repair job on his eye, slight crop from the left.



Canon 500mm f/4 + 1.4tc, AV mode, fill flash +1 via Better Beamer

Camera: Canon EOS 7D
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/400)
Aperture: f/8.0
Focal Length: 700 mm
Exposure Bias: +2/3 EV
ISO Speed: 1250


How did I do?
- Dave

[Joel Eade]

I like the image overall. I think you could crop a little off the right. I love the different background colors and the snow. The bird itself looks a little underexposed or dark...maybe you could work with the levels adjustment a little.

[denise ippolito]

Dave, I agree w/ your self critiques. I like the look of this image and wish the head was turned just a bit more. The image does have a certain mood.

[Dave Blinder]

I like the image overall. I think you could crop a little off the right. I love the different background colors and the snow. The bird itself looks a little underexposed or dark...maybe you could work with the levels adjustment a little.

Thanks for stopping in Joel. Cropping from the right would eliminate room for the bird to look into it's habitat, no?

Levels intentionally left dark here. I have a different frame where the flash failed to fire and I like it even MORE for the dreary Jersey Winter feel.

[Joe Senzatimore]

Mood created very well. A little more DOF would help , as you stated. But the very low angle does wonders for the image.

[Gal Shon]

You did very well with the mood here, the overcast winter day and snowfall helped a lot.
I like the BG and the pose.
I would place the bird a bit more to the left and would prefer some more room at the bottom.

[Ed Schneider]

Hey Dave-

I like this one. Great ambiance with the low angle, snow, and berries. I think I also like the inclusion of the pine needles in the LRHC. I think I see a little "milky eye" from the flash, which can be remedied. Nice job;)

Ed

ps- is the ivory gull still making appearances up there?

[Dave Leroy]

Nice photo. I like it. There is certainly lots of detail where there needs to be. If mine, I might crop just a tad off the left removing the last berry on that side. very well done.Dave

[Ryan Schain]

Hey Dave,

Now we interact on two websites hah.

I agree with you and wouldn't crop this image at all. I love the berries, the sharpness and the mood. You're right, this totally does convey exactly what a dreary NJ day is like. I might get rid of the snowflake just off the beak, but that's just nitpicking.