Common waxbill

[Gordon McKechnie]

Squeezed in some time for photography during recent trip to South Africa...

Canon 50D
100-400mm @ 400
F5.6 1/1600
ISO 640
Flash

All comments much appreciated

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi Gordon, sweet capture and a lovely bird! I really like the colors and the feather detail. You are definitely getting the best from your 50D. This body was much maligned when it was introduced but I shot thousands of images with mine and was very happy with it. Were you using a beamer? It looks like you were very close to the bird, good job with that. Flash looks just right to me. I would take the time to evict the bright diagonal band in the upper right part of the image. While it makes a nice framing element I think the brightness of it detracts from the bird. Maybe you could just tone it down? Good job.

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Gordon,

This is a strong for several reasons. First it emphasizes color and form two critical elements of a well balanced picture. Very unique subject and background colors attract the eye and the look out of the frame by the subject provides a nice gesture. In terms of composition you applied one rule and omitted another. Now this is where it gets subjective and remember a critique in only an opinion. The 45 degree angles are actually compelling and are often used in art and photography to frame a subject this is well done. Another composition method - the rule of thirds would have balanced the frame better IMO. The rule of thirds (see education and tutorial forum for a informative thread) is based on the fact that the human eye goes 2/3's of the way up page. I might crop some from the right and move the subject out of the center. On balance, i agree with Kerry's comments as well and remember when he used the 50D. Nice original picture, thanks for posting keep em coming.

[EzhilSuresh]

Gordon, beautiful bird and well captured with good details. Agree with Kerry regarding the harsh diagonal line.

[Gordon McKechnie]

Thanks for the very useful comments. Kerry - no I didn't use a beamer, just a 430EX II, dialled back 1 stop. Took me quite a long time to creep close enough to these little skittish guys, but managed to get within 4-5m from them.

I take on board both the suggestions (position of bird, and hard diagonal line). This is the rework, which to my mind is a great improvement. Let me know what you think:

[Kerry Perkins]

Gordon, this looks really good to me - well done! Nice work on your part to get so close. This is a basic skill that is sometimes overlooked. I find that working the bird requires at least as much skill as getting the techs right when we make a capture. The crop really helps the image and the bird is now in a better place.