Chickadee

Fine shot of this little bird. Nice catchlight and I like the blue BG. So far I have found it hard to get these little birds to set still long enough to draw a bead on them.

I love the pose and habitat Jack. The bird is a bit soft from camera or bird movement. I would have been tempted to go to f 5.6 and get my SS up to about 1/1000s. This is small bird and you where far enough away (based on you saying it is a heavy crop) to have enough DOF with f 5.6 to get the whole bird sharp and the higher SS would have helped with montion blur. Just a suggestion. Cheers.

Jack,
I agree about the softness but I do like everything else about this image.

Congrats on your first Chickadee Jack! They are great fun to photograph but challenging too because they move so much. Nice exposure, I can see details in the blacks and the whites. I think the larger version looks soft to my eyes, that maybe be due to movement of the bird or the camera. Agree with Ron B on the aperture setting and shutter speed.

Your exposure is excellent on the blacks and whites Jack. I like the pose and catchlight. Both versions seem a little soft to me.

Congratulations on your first. Got my first not to long ago as well. Such sweet little things. Unfortunaely I do see some movement preventing a nice crisp image. Just keep after them. They are fast and so little I found I needed to practice alot before I did well with them.

Congrats on getting your first chickadee shot. I'm sure you'll enjoy all your time photographing them in the future.

Congrats on your first chickadee. Nice exposure on the black and white bird. You don't say which lens you are using, but Ron B.'s suggestions seem like good ones.