White-crowned Sparrow

Gallery: AvianPosted August 30, 2010118 views22 comments

White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys)

Place: Water Ranch, Gilbert, AZ, USA
Date: February 6, 2010
Equipment: Nikon D200, Nikkor AF-S 300/2.8 & TC20E (2x), G1325, RRS BH-55, Sidekick
Exposure: ISO 400, Aperture priority spot metered, 1/320th @ f/8
Raw on Mac G4, PSCS3, modest crop

I'm cleaning up stuff from various folders and see I never got around to posting this. White-crowned Sparrow is a staple of winter shooting around Phoenix, and I'll be glad when they bring cooler temperatures to the area.

Honest critiques requested; all comments appreciated. If possible please view the large version before commenting.

Comments

22 comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on August 30, 2010 at 1:12 AM

Nice framing of the bird by the branches. Fine detail as usual, and bright eye.
Nasty perch with all the spines! but I like the way the bird has crumpled one over to find a safe spine-less area to sit.
Sandy r

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Ákos Lumnitzer on August 30, 2010 at 2:53 AM

Funny how birds manage to avoid the spikes.

Excellent framing with the twigs and nicely composed bird. Overall a beautiful image. Thanks for sharing.

Registered on April 24, 2004, 25 Posts, 510 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on August 30, 2010 at 5:49 AM

Great setting Richard - love the thorns. Nice light and background as well

cheers
Rob

Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Teller on August 30, 2010 at 7:04 AM

Great image as always. While visiting my son in the Phoenix area I spent several mornings at the Gilbert Water Ranch thanks to all of your posts from there. Had a great time.

Registered on August 23, 2010, 1162 Posts, 6692 Comments

Comment posted by denise ippolito on August 30, 2010 at 7:50 AM

Beautiful BG colors and composition w/ the additional branch. Nice details and pose.

Registered on December 17, 2009, 202 Posts, 1529 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on August 30, 2010 at 8:57 AM

beautiful, Rich. nice soft light. excellent perch and comp. love the watercolor bg. hope that cooler temps are on the way for you--things have cooled off noticeably up here in the last week or so.

Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments

Comment posted by KC Choo on August 30, 2010 at 10:39 AM

Love this one!

Registered on November 15, 2004, 519 Posts, 8278 Comments

Comment posted by Monica Siri on August 30, 2010 at 10:40 AM

Rich,
I really like the pose, the thorny perch and the background. Great detail too.

Registered on September 20, 2009, 132 Posts, 3764 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on August 30, 2010 at 11:42 AM

Wonderful background colors and I like the thorny perch, well seen.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on August 30, 2010 at 11:55 AM

Rich,

I find the soft subtle coloring of the bird and the background in this photo very appealing. I also like how the rounded shape of the bird is a nice contrast to the thorny branches that the sparrow is perched on. Excellent tech as usual and I could tell this was a "Rich Ditch" photo just from the thumbnail without looking at the name. A fine & very appealing image as posted.

Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments

Comment posted by Satie Sharma on August 30, 2010 at 12:17 PM

Lovely setting for this one, Richard. Great background, and the 2 branches frame the bird nicely.

Registered on November 11, 2003, 189 Posts, 5335 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Balke on August 30, 2010 at 3:22 PM

The thorny perch is a particularly special part of this image, Rich. Together with the lovely detail in the bird and the colors, it does make for a very attractive image.

Registered on June 18, 2009, 229 Posts, 2915 Comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on August 30, 2010 at 4:04 PM

Nice simple miage that I immediately knew was taken in winter due to the muted colors.

- Luke

Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments

Comment posted by Simon Bennett on August 30, 2010 at 5:07 PM

A lovely image to rediscover Richard - pose, eye conact, framing background colours - all good.

Registered on February 4, 2007, 350 Posts, 4614 Comments

Comment posted by Tom Webster on August 30, 2010 at 6:50 PM

Rich...A very nice image of the sparrow, good perch, and a good background. I'm just not sure about the second branch in the image. I think it detracts from the sparrow in this image. The branches divide the image into roughly thirds. I kind of want to see something in the right third area to balance the sparrow. I seem to be the odd man out on this since everybody else liked the second branch....I'll see you at GWR pretty soon.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 73 Posts, 644 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on August 30, 2010 at 7:00 PM

I seem to be the odd man out

Tom, you're always "odd man out" IMO.

See you soon in the field.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on August 31, 2010 at 10:07 AM

Lovely light and composition, Richard. One of my favorite birds.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by May Haga on August 31, 2010 at 3:46 PM

Very nice Richard. I like how the branches frame the bird.
May

Registered on February 22, 2007, 714 Posts, 8470 Comments

Comment posted by David Haynes on September 1, 2010 at 12:32 AM

Terrific background that perfectly matches the colors in your sparrow. Very nice perch as well. Larger post shows good feather detail but a soft tail. Tail doesn't bother me at all because the rest of the capture is just beautiful Richard.

Registered on February 20, 2010, 110 Posts, 1511 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on September 2, 2010 at 1:23 AM

I viewed this one a few days ago and was immediately impressed, just now had a chance to comment. Unique perch with those wicked thorns. The bark and background colors are very pleasing with the greys on the sparrow. Pretty background! Not many birds left around here, your gain I guess.

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on September 2, 2010 at 7:42 AM

I missed this one somehow Rich - my loss. I really like the thorny perch and the wonderfully subtle background colors. The sparrow looks very good and I like the branch to the right for the color contrast it provides to the perch. Excellent.

Registered on March 30, 2007, 437 Posts, 10915 Comments

Comment posted by Angela McCain on September 3, 2010 at 9:00 PM

Chubby bird. I like the differing colors of the branches--and the thorns. Nice image.

Registered on April 19, 2009, 367 Posts, 3589 Comments