African scops 2 - composition suggestions?

[Gordon McKechnie]

I adore the quizzical expression of this guy's face, but pity about the branch in front. I couldn't find a spot to take the photo without the branch in front. I haven't done much photoshop work on this yet as I am looking for suggestions on what (if anything) could be done to improve this? I tried cropping just the head, but without the body it seems to lose the effect of the tilted head. All suggestions on composition or other ways to improve most welcome

Canon 50D + 100-400mm @ 400mm
f5.6
1/50
ISO 400
Flash (pop-up)

[Harold Davis]

i'm not sure what i would do with the composition. i like it as is. post processing i would sharpen the eyes. adding some contrast will help the bird pop out a little. i would add some blacks in there too.

too bad about the limb in front of the bird. the eyes pop so much and his feathers blend into the environment so much that it makes it not that big of a deal for me!! i like it!

[Lance Peters]

Hi Gordon - love those eye's and agree with Harolds comments - but for me the OOF Branch in the front relegates this to a record shot.
Not much you could do - except wait for a better opportunity.

[Mark Young]

G'day Gordon, Great eye contact and facial detail. It would be interesting to see if you could crop this as a portrait shot?

[Alfred Forns]

Tight head shot is about the only thing I can think to do !!! Agree with others the branches up front are hard to dealt with !!!! Sweet bird !!!

[Steven Read]

Perhaps you could do some burning on the limb to give it sepeperating color and contrast from the bird. Just a thought. Steve Read