Oak Titmouse - Juvenile

[John Platt]

Taken at the home feeder in the backyard:

1/350th
f/5.6
ISO 800
70-200 Nikon 2.8 with 1.4xiie
Tripod
Fill flash - Nikon SB800 @ -1.7ev

Shot in raw processed in LR4, not a lot done to it, cropped and added negative clarity to remove the edges due to the harsh background lighting.



Saving for a big lens so I don't have to crop. Comments always welcome.

Thanks,

John Platt

[Randy Stout]

John:

our bird is sharp and well exposed, good flash work.

I would consider moving him to the left slightly in the frame, because of his direction of gaze.

Your sig. line is very distracting from the image. Generally a small discrete sig with a darker color works better.

Are you shooting from a blind? They can often help you make up some of the reach you lose from a shorter lens.

Cheers

Randy

[dankearl]

Nice and sharp and i like the view and BG.
The flash is subtle and well done.
I would crop to just above the signature and lose the signature.
They are worthless really and if you use one, it should be very discreet.

[John Platt]

Thanks for the feedback, I can lose the signature easy enough. I wish I had a blind, I shoot from a folding chair under a tree. I may try a blind in the near future, I have a friend who uses one quite a bit and he has invited me out to shoot with him.

I hope to move up to a 500mm before next year... we'll see.

Best Regards,

JP

[Daniel Cadieux]

I love the pose, perch and background (reverse clarity...I'll have to try that). I like that you composed this vertically with the subject up high but I agree with Randy about moving it more to the left.

A blind does make a big difference, and there are some light and inexpensive ones out there...