Black Capped Chickadee

[hb1944]

Captured in the act. Please critique closely.

Thanks

Horace Best

[daq7]

Very nice capturing him with the seed.

[Shebang]

Very nice, hb1944! Love the catchlight in the eye, the DOF, the bokeh, the blues of the leaves and the blue on the bird, the pink of the background and the pink on his belly, the framing of the branches, the pose, and the open mouth with the seed is a bonus! The one thing that bothers me is orange leaf bottom right which I find distracting for this photo.

[daq7]

Oh yeah, that leaf on the bottom right does detract. This has such an amazing feel of a japanese painting. That leaf can totally be cloned out. Be a bit of work to get the right tonal subtlety, but it could also be cropped for the most part without too much damage to the composition I think.

[OldClicker]

Very nice environmental - maybe a little busy/crowded for a pure image. The capture with the seed is great. Minor nit-picks, but you asked - The dappled harsh sun light is blowing out his foot and some of the leaves. It would be better without the big branch behind and the smaller one close to the top of his head. Nix the orange leaf. The farther back blurred background is very nice. - TF

[MilesOfTexas]

I really like the shot of the bird itself. To me, my eyes are yanked hard to the branches, but not because they are there. It feels like there was a lot of contrast added to the photo as a whole, which works against the branches that are out of focus, almost like it is trying to make them pop, when they shouldn't.

If you have a way to do it, such as with Viveza, contrast can be selectively applied or removed, and it might help the image to reduce contrast except on the bird itself.

Just a thought.