D700, 300mm, 1.4tc, tripod. 1/500, f6.3, ISO 800. Adjusted wb, crop in acr. USM in CS3. Some of the adult birds are looking a little ragged around here from the non stop care of young. This was taken on May 12 at 8:10 am. This was a set up.
That is a beat up looking Chickadee, A Carolina I presume, it does not look like the Chickadees currently nesting in a
decorative birdhouse on my front porch!
I really like the foliage and the BG, a tough crop job though, I would like to see the bird a bit bigger in the frame,
but don't know where to crop?
The first thing my eyes go to are the leaves on the upper part of the branch. Might consider cropping closer to the bird to remove that distraction? Doesn't look like both feet are sharp, though seems they should be from the techs. I would like to see more DOF. I like the pose of the bird very much. Nice job on the whites and darks.
This reminds you just how small these guys are. The maple leaves are lovely - perhaps the nicest part of the image, although I'm sure that wasn't the intent. Maybe a little more DOF or SS would have helped the bird?
Hi Jack, I like the exposure and detail on the little guy, and I dont find him that 'scruffy'. Good DOF on the perch, and as Dan stated, this is a tough comp, as I would also like to see him higher in the frame. Here is my version by taking some off the top. Having done that, I had to remove bits of the other leaves coming into the frame.