Red-winged Blackbird (female)

[Jim Crosswell]

This was taken near my house. The birds were very active along a ditch. This was shot as a horizontal and cropped vertically. I don't have anymore room below. All C&Cs are appreciated.

Canon 40D
500L IS
ISO 400
f/7.1
1/800s
handheld

[Randy Stout]

Jim:

Take this with a grain of salt since I am on my old back up laptop, but the image looks a bit bright overall, and I think that a midtones adjustment downward would help. I might also selectively tone down the leaves on the perch, esp the yellow one behind the back and the large flat one at the bottom.

Good singing pose, angle in frame, DOF. Might consider a slight crop off the top, and add back in a bit to the right if you have it.

Cheers

Randy

[Mike Tracy]

I think these are under appreciated birds and find them good subjects. I like the calling pose.

In addition to Randys observations I am seeing a reddish purple cast.

[Arthur Morris]

Good work by both gentlemen above. I like the singing pose and the head angle to go with it but it is much too light. Speaking of light, it looked rather harsh. Lastly, it looks as if you focused on the near shoulder rather than the eye....

[Daniel Cadieux]

I'm seeing the cast too - should be an easy fix vis Color Balance. Good comp, and I like the calling pose. I agree with the critiques above...and about this species being under appreciated...