Long Tailed Tit

[Jonathan Ashton]

Bean bag
Camera Model Canon EOS 7D
Shooting Mode Aperture-Priority AE
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/640
Av( Aperture Value ) 4.5
Metering Mode Evaluative Metering
Exposure Compensation -2/3
ISO Speed 800
Lens EF500mm f/4L IS USM
Flash On
Flash Type External E-TTL
E-TTL II flash metering Evaluative flash metering
Flash Exposure Compensation -1 1/3
Shutter curtain sync Hi-speed
White Balance Mode Auto
AF Mode AI Servo AF
AF area select mode Zone AF
Picture Style Standard

These little birds haven't been in the garden for a while as there has been a lot of disturbance due to building work. I noticed their return and had to grab a few shots from my hide, it was a very dull day so I used a little fill in flash.

All C & C welcome.

[Chris Martinez]

Love the perch, very nice indeed! I might remove the catchlight from the flash and brighten up the other catchlight with the dodge tool(my new favourite thing in PS)
Looks like the focus might be on the body and not the face. Maybe a little sharpening of the face would help(the bill looks a bit soft).
I can also see a bit of ghosting(?) at about 10 or 11 o'clock on the birds head.
The whites looks great to me and so do the blacks for that matter.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thanks Chris I had exactly the same observations as yourself. I have some more shots where the head is sharp but the tail is not and that is a bit distracting, I did wonder about the flash catchlight, I didn't use a diffuser whereas I normally do.

[Randy Stout]

Jon:

Excellent observations by Chris, and I would do exactly what he said on the catchlight.

Also agree on the sharpening concerns.

Since you are shooting from the hide, is it safe to assume the perch is part of a setup?
If so, I would try to orient it so that it is more parallel to your sensor plane, so more of it remains in focus. I love its texture.

Cheers

Randy

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Jonathan, interesting body shape to this little guy, and well done with the subtle flashwork. I like the detail and different colours on him, and love the texture of the perch too.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thanks for the feedback everyone - much appreciated. Randy the perch is a difficult one I placed it at an angle to try to ensure the birds were parallel to the plane of the camera, if the perch is then I tend to get the birds rather more head on. I agree the perch would look better if more in focus, I will tilt it back a little more to parallel and see how it goes.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Jonathan, lots of good advice above. Loved the bird and am sure you will get the opportunity to get the sharpness/focus perfect next time around. TFS.

[James Salywoda]

A bit more sharpening on the head Johnathon but I really like pose and bg. Nice Shot!

[Chris Martinez]

Cool, Jonathan:D I think that was my most thorough comment made on the forum:wh