Just a Sparrow

[Bob Decker]

Just a back-yard bird... a sparrow of some kind (not sure on the ID). Canon 40D, Bigma @ 500mm, ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/500, CF tripod, side mount gimbal. RAW conversion via CS3, PS included selective sharpening of bird, noise despeckle & reduction on background, highlight/shadow to bring out detail in light areas.

[Julie Brown]

Bob, I happen to love the backyard birds! I like this for the eye contact, composition and the blurred BG. The head looks a bit soft on my monitor.:)

[Mark Adkins]

Love the backyard birds too! In MN, that's what we we have in the winter. Nice f-stop to blur the background. Decent head angle and lighting. Agree that much of the image, esecially head and perch are soft on my monitor.

Mark

[Craig Wallace]

Hi Bob, I'm not sure but it looks like a Chipping Sparrow in winter plumage. Like the bg and perch, nice feather detail, wished the head was turned more to the right. Nice image.

[Lance Peters]

Hi Bob - agree with the above comments - BG looks good.
Id be tempted to crop some from the top - to get the head out of the centre of the frame.
Just watch your light angle as well - here half your subject is in shadow.
TFS

[Bob Decker]

Just watch your light angle as well - here half your subject is in shadow.

I know that's the golden rule here. It's a good rule. I keep it in mind and apply it in most cases when making bird photographs. But honestly, I'm not going to limit myself to shooting in flat, boring light all of the time. Sometimes that's not where the bird is. One of the first lessons one learns when studying portrait, still life or even landscape photography is that side lighting accentuates texture. There's something to be said for having the light come from 15, 30, even 45 degrees sometimes.

Thanks for the suggestions. Always appreciated.

[Peter Farrell]

Nice, BG, perch and feather detail. I like the lighting as well.