Western Bluebird

[Brendan Dozier]

Trying to get more BIF images and saw this Western Bluebird perched nearby. Learned from Jim Neiger in the "All About Birds" BPN forum that when trying to anticipate when songbirds will take flight you should: "Look for a scrunching or tensing of the head/neck area. Takeoff may follow immediately after." Sure enough, the bird scrunched its neck and immediately took flight diving off the branch. Cloned out some other branches, standard ACR & PP adjustments.

7D, EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM +2.0x
1/2000
5.6
ISO 400

C & C welcome & appreciated,

-Brendan

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi Brendan, sweet capture here and an interesting composition. I'm conflicted (you knew that ) about the relative size of the "ex-perch". At first look, the size of the branch relative to the little bluebird seems a bit much, but the more I look at it the more I like it. It definitely tells a story and the eye contact really adds interest to the shot. I really like the hint of clouds in the sky.

Nice setup you have there with the new 70-200 and the 2x!

[John Chardine]

I like it too. Very well done to capture this fleeting action. I think there is enough room to the right to give the bird the space it needs. Love the colours on the bird. What a blue!

[Ray Rozema]

Interresting pose gives a sense of intense attack. Good color and detail I would favor a tighter crop from the left , to lessen the distraction of the ex perch and more focus on the bird.

[Stan Cunningham]

Very nice Brendan. I agree with the above, crop a little off the left and add some to the right.
Were you HH or on a tripod? And is it the new new 2X or the old?
Nice shot.

[Brendan Dozier]

Thanks very much for your comments and suggestions, folks.

I was debating about how much of the branch to leave in, just seemed a bit too cut off when cropped from left. There was something I liked compositionally about the diagonal line it creates going to the corner.

Stan: This was handheld, and it's the old (II) 2x