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Thread: The NORTHERN SHRIKE is in many ways a tiny raptor

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    Default The NORTHERN SHRIKE is in many ways a tiny raptor

    Inasmuch as the good fellow is a bird of prey, anyhow...
    Anyhow, I took this the other day here in Toronto. Is the image soft and noisy? Oh yes indeed! But I like the feel and the bird himself (or herself?) among the orange-berried spikies. Anyhow, who cares what I think, I want to hear what you have to say! Also, if anyone can tell me the name of this terrific tree/shrub with the orange berries and the spiky thorns, i'd be so delighted and appreciative...
    Taken with the Canon 7D, 200mm f2.8 lens + 1.4, iso1000, 1/500, f4 on a most grey afternoon. Cropped, obviously, to a dreaded square-like shape...thanks for looking...

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    It is a pitty that the tail does not show. I am not keen on the balance of the image. You may have had the opportunity for a better composition and background by moving to the right, if that were possible. As far as IQ is concerned you probably did as well as possible but if there was no wind to move the branch then maybe trying at ISO 800 might have helped. If I have a cooperative subject I often 'work the bird'.

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    Macro and Flora Moderator Jonathan Ashton's Avatar
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    Hey Jack stop apologising this ain't bad at all! OK a bit if noise but that can be addressed. If it is a dreaded square why not change it? If high ISO is required my best tip is make sure you are well exposed i.e. to the right to the point you get a few blinkies - you can recover these later. As Adrian says work the bird - maybe you did and he didn't want to play. After this preamble I think you have a decent bird in habitat shot.

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    Thanks for the critique folks...I must confess that I was teasing about the "dreaded square" because actually I'm rather fond of the shape but see that many people are not, and I want to know why! No kidding, I see a lot of people writing things like "crop further in so as to avoid the square" and I don't know why...
    Moving on, thanks much for the input, it's much appreciated...

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    Robert Rommel
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    I love the perch and pose for this shrike. I agree that the balance of this image can be improved. I am fine with a square composition, but here the bird and all the thorns are on the right making the image feel "heavy" to the right. Balance is one of the reasons square can be hard to pull off (with the exception of 'unnerving' center of the frame images). If the shrike was more on the left and the thorns remained on the right, I think the balance would be improved. The tree might be a Hawthorn?

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    Robert, thanks so much for the nice words...SO glad you wrote back about the tree, too...I was thinking hawthorn but now I'm wondering if it isn't sea buckthorn, which has been planted through Ontario? I've been scouring the Internet for info and looking back at some old pictures of a mockingbird gobbling up the berries...Anyhow, I agree with you about all your points RE the heaviness, or lopsidedness of the image...so glad you enjoyed the perch and pose, that's what made me like the picture too...not everyone's cup of tea, to be sure...anyhow, I'll revisit and see if I can't improve the crop...thanks again...

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    I think you nailed it as sea buckthorn.

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    Thanks Craig, I think so too...
    Here's the original, and frankly I don't know what I was thinking cropping it. Personally I like this much better. Thanks again for the critiques and comments and suggestions, folks...this forum is terrific...I am learning constantly...if any of you have an idea for a crop or further alterations, I'd welcome that very much...

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