A migrant Harris's Sparrow photographed this past weekend in Oxdrift, Ontario.
I got several good shots with some different variations in the pose and the position of the horizon. This is one of two "keeper" shots I really like (the other has the bird calling with a sky evident in the background) - I like the ruffled up crest in this one.
Lovely shot. Love the bird even if it is in winter plumage. Colours great and the detail is fabulous. Not sure about the foliage, either in the BG or on the RHS. A bit distracting but I think the strength of the rest of the image is great.
jeff this is cracker of a shot. what clarity light and details you have here. perfect pose. how bout cloning out those red spots behind the bird ? they are little distracting or rather attracting the attention. and may be cutting from left a bit and adding on right.
Nice find...I take it you are located at the very far eastern edge of their traditional migratory route? Perfect exposure and spot on sharpness. Good alert pose, and a very autumnal feel to your image. I'm not sure about the BG foliage, but I do like the leaflets at right. In fact, if this is cropped I'm wondering what is at right as I wouldn't mind seeing more of those leaves, or at least no clipping of the heart shaped leaf at far right.
Daniel and Rob - the left edge of the image is the actual edge - there was a little taken off the bottom, but the shot has been mostly cropped from the top and right (the bird's head was almost dead center in the RAW file). I'll re-crop and post again later tonight (whilst I contemplate cloning out some of the background foliage on the left...)
I've been doing a bit fiddling with the image and I don't think cloning out the background foliage is the way to go - it provides some "weight" on the left side of the frame and doesn't look balanced when it is gone. Instead, I am going to take Daniel's advice to the extreme and go for a full panoramic crop - this version of the image is full width. While there is certainly a lot of red on the screen, I think the additional foliage on the right does a better job balancing the background foliage on the left than the original crop did.
I loved the original post but the pano repost is 1000 times stronger as it is beautifully balanced. As spectacular as the bird is in pane one--cool head and mega sharp, it was stuffed into the frame. I am glad that you had room on the right.
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I too am glad you had more room at right, and the repost is exactly what I was hoping you had (I wouldn't mind a bit more canvas above, but still super as is). Another thing is that while I found the BG leaves distracting in the original I find them very nice and well balanced in the new and improved comp:) Awesome stuff!
Harris's Sparrow - Winter Plumage
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