Was out shooting in the fog the other day when a break came and I got some decent light. Just so happened that this N. Mockingbird was right close and in a nice pose for me, at the right time.
D300s, 600VR, f/6.3, ISO 400, 1/1600th SS, Manual exposure, full frame.
It was too close in fact. I could barely get its feet in the frame. I took a "tip" from Alan Murphys CD and once the bird flew off, I took an image of the post lower, and then added just a tiny bit of the fence post to what I already had.
It looks as if he just had a bath. I like the sharpness, angle and eye contact. I would remove the darkish streaks in the BG above the head and next to the perch and try to get more details in the blacks.
Nice pose, and beautifully sharp feather detail. Great trick with the post; I've had a number of occasions when I wish I had thought to do that. Were it mine I might give just a tad of brightness and saturation to the eye, but it is probably more natural as posted. Nicely done!
Nice of this fellow to pose for you! I wish the feet weren't lost in the shadows of the perch (I think there could be more of that perch showing BTW), and although the HA ain't "bad" I would still have preferred it turned a wee bit more towards us. I like the BG, just a few faint streaks that need to be dealt with.
Northern Mockingbird
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