It might be a very personal taste, but I'm quite content with this one. I like to place birds in their enviroment. This bird is always in the reed, which i don't fancy on picture's. Finally I saw this one in some cow parsley. Together with the light of the early morning and the space around the bird I came to this picture. I prefered the bird a little higher in the cow parsley, but unfortunately he stayed here. I'm curious what you guys think about it.
I like the inclusion of habitat, and the deeper background also works well. I agree that the image would work better if the bird was higher giving a bit more separation. It would also be interesting to see how well the shadows on the bird could be lifted.
Where did you take it? (interesting for me since I'm effectively next door in Belgium).
It is a lovely singing pose and I also like the inclusion of habitat.
It is the lighting on the bird which is the draw back for me.
If the bird was in the clear early morning light it would be top notch for me. I would be going back to try for that clear shot and as you have mentioned a bit higher and into the light.
I agree the setting is very pretty, but the lighting (or lack of) on the subject is too bad. Good singing pose - I can just hear him now, and the mass of flowers at right balances the image nicely. I do wish the row of flowers directly above the head was lower (or bird perched higher) for better head/BG separation.