Black-capped Chickadee

Beautiful shot sharon, great background. Love it as posted. A little more DOF would have been great.

"Feel a little silly posting a simple chickadee....." - Ha! I love these little birds. And you did a great job photographing it. Nice clean background, great eye contact and head angle. I also like the perch.

Lovely background color with a nice curved perch. I think the head could use a little more sharpening (at least in the larger version) but otherwise this is spot on

- Luke

Nice curved perch and BG Sharon :-) I'd also re-sharpen the face a touch more.

Great BG Sharon and I love the pose and HA. I agree with the others on the need to sharpen the head area. Nice job.

No need to apologize for posting a Chicadee photo, these little guys don't stay still for long and can really test your autofocus system, not to mention one's patience. I like the gentle upcurve on the perch, much more interesting than any straight old stick. Could possibly use just a hint more dof, if you want to get real picky. The exposure looks reasonable, but I can't help but wonder if an over all reduction in the exposure might be even more attractive. The background is an "interesting" color, but coral (or is that salmon) isn't my personal favorite, darkening the image might change my feeling about it. Color preferences are very personal and I wouldn't expect you to change anything for me, just stating an opinion. In summary, a well made photo, with a pink background.

A lovely bird exquisitely presented. Especially like the eye contact, and shared colours of background and flanks.

Very cute tiny bird.

Sharon,

I love chickadees and I love to see them posted. They are such quick little birds, but beautiful too.

I like the bird's pose and the light and the gentle curves in the branch the bird is posed on too.

Agree it could use a touch more sharpening on the head and a little more dof would have been nice, but looking at your techs if you had a little more dof you may not have had enough shutter speed.

I like the head angle and the eye contact a lot.

Sharon, I'm another fan of chickadees. And they certainly present their own challenges. It always amazes me how few decent shots I have, given how common they are. They sure don't hold still for long. You got a really nice perch, pose, and bg. I agree with the DOF and sharpening nits, but this is a good looking shot.

Sharon:
I can't tell about the sharpness - I'm looking at it on a small screen through my scratched birding glasses that I don't mind losing, but I would not apologize for posting this shot. I like the pose, perch and BG and the color is OK for me. Good luck with the kinglet.

I Love these little guys and the comp and pose are great. Seems a little soft to me . Are you using a tripod with that big boy? I'm jealous of your big lens. You could probably sharpen a little more

Sharon,
I like these cute birds and your image too. Very nice the curved perch, the pose and the background. Well done!

The colors and soft light really make this image Sharon. Lovely. I too would like to see a little more DOF and some more sharpening.

Looks good to me, I really like the overall tones to this image, looks like the new lens will work out just fine, looking forward to more, way to go.

A super colorful shot Sharon. I agree a bit more sharpening on the head and you have a wall hanger.

Nits mentioned but I think you've done well here Sharon. Talk about a fidgety subject and I hope you never really feel "silly" about posting a chickadee. I don't think I've ever posted one and it's certainly not because I haven't tried getting good shots of them. The background color works just fine for me but like Gary I have a personal preference - not for or against a particular color but I prefer at least a little texture in backgrounds. That's just me though.

Wonderful shot - nothing to feel silly for that's for sure. Well done!