Superb Starling

[Terry Hann]

Canon 20D 1/1000 f6.7 ISO 400 70-200 f2.8 @ 200 Taken in Kenya

[Michael Hogan]

Terry, Very nice shot, fabulous bird. Great eye contact and pose. Love the BF except for the bits of green in LHS. However, there is something about the image that I find just not perfect but I'm not sure what it is. It may be just me. I would like to see it with a slightly less tight crop - that might be it.

But all in all a great capture.

TFS

Michael

[Terry Hann]

Thanks Michael. I agree with you about something not being just right, it may be the way the bird has turned its head at almost an unnatural angle. As for the background I find it difficult to know whether to leave the darker green in for depth or take it out as a distraction.
Thanks for your comments.
Terry.

[Dave Mills]

Hi Terry, I like the subject and pose. In this case the tight crop doesn't bother me. The lighting is even with good detail in the head and upper body area. My vote is to evict the green...

[arash_hazeghi]

looks nice, a bit tight in the frame, chest feathers need more sharpening, wish for more dof

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Terry Just the green for me get out the weed-eater :) ... then crank the dof as suggested by Arash since you have a clean bg !!! Did well with exposure and framing Like it a lot !!!

[Lance Peters]

Hi Terry - agree with the above - some more DOF would have ben good - not sure how much further you would want to push the 20D in ISO.

Just that bit tight in the frame for my personal tastes - lots to like here though - good HA, Exposure looks good, BG.
Well done!!

[Terry Hann]

I've removed the green as suggested and I think it does look better. Thanks for the input.

Terry

[Mark Hardymon]

Hi Terry - I'm going to go against the consensus here. I like the bits of green on the left hand side. The image is a bit too sterile for me without it, but I'm big on having some habitat in with the subject. Agree with a little more DOF. Otherwise, I really like this image and subject, great pose!