Cedar Waxwing

[Janet Heintz]

This little Waxwing was in a large hemlock that was leaning out over a stream, he would fly down and hover over the water,dip in and back up to the perch. There was a small flock of about 10 Waxwings. I think they were catching bugs in the water. Didn't have my tripod, taken leaning against a tree. Tricky lighting, the only bright spot was on this branch. the surrounding forest was very dark.
Comments Welcome
Janet
Canon EOS 7D
100-400 lens @400
ISO 640

[Randy Stout]

Janet:

Really does look like he just got out of the bath!
The lighting in this case really helped you isolate the bird from the darker background. I might consider toning down the large brown spot in front of the birds face.
Nice head angle.
The image looks a bit soft. What shutter speed and aperture were you using? Always good to post that info.

Sounds like a fun activity to witness.

Cheers

Randy

[Dan Avelon]

nice look and pose, the image is really soft though.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Must have been fun to watch! Funny disheveled look here (in a good way). Love the dark BG and I agree with Randy's suggestion about the brown spot, and would also eliminate the small branch tip sticking out tof the bird's side. I'd also prefer less of a squarish crop. Looks like NR was applied to the whole image...could explain the softness issue.

[Arsdel Fluesmeier]

This one just got out of the bath. Pose is good and sharp.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Agreed, looks a little soft and for me a more rectangular (3:2 ratio) crop would work better. I love the look of the bird though, it's very cool!

[Bill Dix]

I've watched a flock of them hunting bugs over my local lake, just as you describe. Nice pose and eye contact. Too bad about the softness, whether due to NR or SS.