Off to a good start. I might do some selective work on the eye to bring it out a little. At this size it looks pretty flat black to me, but blown up a bit I can see the separation between pupil and iris.
I think a different crop would help also. the bird is dead in the center. i think moving the bird to the left side to give him more room to look into would be nice. I think you could take some off the top and bottom too.
Did some of the suggestions Moving bird out of middle makes the biggest difference Also feel there is much work done Sometimes less is better USM seems to be overdone I like how you got a good perch and clean bg !!!
Dan, this is the first of this species that I've seen here...a beautiful sparrow. It's a fine image with a clean background a nice perch. I agree with the suggestion to recrop so that it isn't dead center. The next challenge is to capture this same species with a bit more habitat...this can be tough, but in the end will create a more pleasant final image that connects the bird to its surroundings.
Thanks for all the comments and help.
Alfred, yes that is much better. I was thinking of the diagonal perch coming from the corner but that does screw up the birds position. I will think about the subject first next time, as well as Hold back on sharpening.
Judd, beautifull sparrow indeed, one of my favorites. We refer to him as Mr. Handsome. will work on more natural srroundings in the future
Black throated sparrow
