Red Breasted Nuthatch

[Jeff Dyck]

Having squirrelled my pennies away for more than a year for my first piece of "Big Glass", I was very excited to finally take possesion of my own (previously enjoyed) 800mm f/5.6 - a pretty big step-up from my tried and true 400mm f/5.6. Itching to do some shooting, I headed down to Sax Zim Bog in northern Minnesota with a couple friends for a couple days of shooting boreal species. The weather didn't exactly cooperate - it was a dark overcast almost the entire weekend - but it turned out to be good (albiet dim) lighting for shooting small birds in the thick cover. Here is the first of a few images I plan to post from the trip.

Canon 5DII -- 800mm f/5.6L IS with 2 Extension Tubes -- ISO1600 -- 1/250s @ f5.6 (manual exposure) -- Fill Flash @ -2 1/3 EV

[AlvanBuckley]

Nice background and the perch is really interesting too! Great composition.
TFS

[Craig Brelsford]

Congrats on getting the big gun. Because of the dimness, you had to open up, and your focus is running away up the perch. I crave more eye contact, and the nuthatch could be too large in the frame (though presenting him this way is certainly defensible). The details on the feathers and the lichens give me the immediacy that I want--they put me in the bird's little world.

[Allen Sparks]

I love these little guys and think this is a very nice catch. A better head tilt would be nice but they don't follow my directions either.... I like the BG and perch as well.

[Ofer Levy]

Nice shot. Flash looks good to me. Maybe a bit big in the frame and wish for more DOF. Composition is a bit centred for my taste.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Jeff, congrats on the new gear. Loved this shot a lot...such a tough species to nail. Loved the surreal BG. If mine, I'd crop a bit from behind the bird..

[Arthur Morris]

Love everything about the image but the slight head turn away.... EXP, fill flash, crop, and the lovely framing of the lichens on the perch in front of the bird.