Snow Bunting

[Joseph Cala]

Hammonasset Beach State Park, Madison CT this AM.

Nikon D300, Sigma 500mm f/4.5.
1/2500 @ f/4.5, Aperture Mode, ISO 200.

I was back and forth with two of these for at least 20 minutes. Easily the tamest Snow Buntings I've come across. Most of the pics came laying down on the sand, but when they jumped onto a large driftwood log on the beach I snagged this.

Minimal crop from the image and just a little saturation and clarity added in PP.

C&C welcomed!

[P-A. Fortin]

I still can't believe I live in 4ft of snow these days and have never managed to see one of these.

Good job. I like the image overall, lighting and head position is good, so is eye contact. Exposure looks very good (though I am on a non-calibrated monitor right now).

I see some points that could improve it: First I would try a different crop to remove a bit on the right and about 10-15% on the bottom. As it is now, the log is bigger than the bird and draws my attention away from the bird. Second I would try to clone out the distracting brown spot on the log just below the bird on the right (poop?).

Did you apply some sharpening in your post-processing? If not, the image would also benefit from it.

[Joel Eade]

I agree with the suggestions above...the "poo" is a little distracting. You had good light...did you try images any stopped down say to f/8 or more? That might have helped the sharpness.

I am seeing something just over the bird's back ... is it feathers from the other side sticking up?

Nice image, I have never seen this species, thanks for sharing.

[Joseph Cala]

Thanks for the comments guys. I'll be honest, I didn't even notice the poop on the log. Oops.

I re-cropped, cloned out the poop, lightened the eye just a bit, and added some sharpening to the image. The blur just above the back is in fact feathers--must have been the wind. I only got a handful of shots with it perched on the wood like this--and I didn't alter the aperture at all for that series. I have some with them on sand that have varying apertures, though.

[John Chardine]

Lovely Joseph. Great head angle and pose. Love the light and detail and the "puffed-up" look. This species is skittish locally and is seen in flocks. They are hard to approach. Well done in getting a single bird posing for you! I like the original crop or the repost with more room to the left and less on top.

[Joseph Cala]

Thanks, John! There were two of these guys right on the beach that let me get within my minimal focusing distance for almost 20 minutes. All of my previous experience (even at that park) with these guys they have been extremely skittish flocks as well. No idea why these two were by themselves, but I'll settle for jeans full of sand everytime for shot opportunities like I had.

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi Joseph, the final post is the one for me - very nicely done.