Nikon D300 w/Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 vr lens @ 400mm, HH
ISO equiv. 400, MM, 1/800 sec. @ f/7.1
This female purple martin took a break from one of four martin apartment houses at the corners of our garden, to perch on a nearby weeping cherry tree.
There is a principle in the law called the "eggshell skull rule," which holds that you take your plaintiff as you find him. In this case my bird had a messy beak, but I chose to present her to you as I found her, without cosmetic beak cloning.
Unusual to see this species perched on a branch. I like the head angle and the over the shoulder pose. The angle is a bit steep, the dark feathers look either a bit noisy or over-sharpened, not sure which, and the bird is surely guilty of having a dirty beak.
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Wonderful pose but I think you oversharpened. Well captured overall. Agree about your remark regarding cosmetics. People get so engrossed with clinical perfection. It makes the images look kind of stale I guess; especially if you look at hundreds of them the same. Maybe I am dead wrong. Actually, most likely as I haven't a clue. :)
Female Purple Martin
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