Thanks to constant singing and posing of this common redstart, long long wait for the star bird -- Koklass Pheasant --- was less boring. This image was made in Pingdingshan, mountainous region of China from a bird hide using Nikon D810 and 600 mm F4 lens.
Hi Jay, nice calling pose. To me, I think the bird is a little too small in the frame as the perch is dominating. Also, I feel the whites on the bird look a little too hot and some of the blacks a bit choked. Some NR on the background might help a little (what were settings on this shot?) as well as help to blur some of the more distracting elements. TFS and I look forward to more.
thanks for time and efforts in detailed comments. Much appreciated. Even though image was taken with D810 and with 600 + 1.4 X TC, bird is so tiny that it was really small in the frame. I do have another image with tighter crop but here I went for "environmental" shot. The whites are actually irridescent silver and most of the body is black -- so too wide dynamic range, so decided to give away whites. But do agree with your observations. Look forward to more in the future.
Settings:
Nikon D500, 600 mm F4, f8, 1/500, IS0 1000.
Love the calling pose but agree the perch is really dominating this frame when the bird and its behavior should be the main focus. I do like that BG and how it matches your bird.