Red-Breasted Nuthatch

Gallery: AvianPosted December 3, 2010194 views13 comments

Taken in late evening sun. I liked the detail in the mosses on the trunk of the Douglas Fir. He gave me plenty of opportunities, but in the more conventional poses with an arched back, the beak was partly obscured by the oof fir twig on the left, so I decided to go with this one. This is a fairly heavy crop.

7D, 500mm f4 + 1.4TC, Black Widow on Gitzo legs, f8, 1/500, iso 400, manual exposure (birds were moving between dark fir and snow backgrounds, so exposure compensation was too much of a hassle). Normal processing in CS4. Cropped from 18 to 5 MP. Taken November 23rd at 3:40 pm (sunset was about 4:30).

I always appreciate your feedback.

Thanks,

Comments

13 comments

Comment posted by Michael Twaddell on December 3, 2010 at 10:59 PM

These guys are one of my favorites! To me, they always sound like they are laughing. This is a nice capture, with good feather detail and proper exposure. I do find the branch above the bird distracting, and would suggest cloning that out.

Registered on August 16, 2007, 199 Posts, 2132 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Balke on December 3, 2010 at 11:20 PM

The bird and the perch are outstanding, Dennis: great detail, wonderful colors. The question is what to do about the potential distractions on the LHS. Both the branch above the bird and the snow are pretty bright. You could consider cloning out the branch as Mike suggested. I'm not sure what to do about the snow. I recall another of your images had snow in it too with a similar situation. Maybe just decreasing exposure on it---effectively putting it in a dark shadow---would do the trick. ....or you can just leave it all as is. The distractions are only minor ones to me.

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

Comment posted by Derrick Lipinski on December 4, 2010 at 12:07 AM

Nice, rich image, Dennis. The OOF branches on the left do provide a distraction; other than that, Great capture!

Registered on October 5, 2007, 58 Posts, 2039 Comments

Comment posted by Wayne Willison on December 4, 2010 at 7:54 AM

Dennis, I like the pose, the tree trunk color and texture and feather detail. But I agree about the ulc limb.

Registered on April 10, 2009, 292 Posts, 3967 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on December 4, 2010 at 9:39 AM

Guess I'm the odd man out here Dennis because for me the ULC limb is a positive, due to its warm colors that go so well with the bird and parts of the perch. I like the setting, including most of the snow and the way you've caught the bird against the darker background. I do think the large crop has had its effect but still enjoy the image very much.

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

Comment posted by Charles Gangas on December 4, 2010 at 9:40 AM

Nice light and good details Dennis. I like the mosses as well and I have no problems with the limb as it is part of the habitat. I think I might have included more of the limb in the top of the image to show it coming from the tree, and perhaps creating a frame, Just a thought.

Registered on August 12, 2009, 544 Posts, 2414 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Moore on December 4, 2010 at 9:52 AM

The oof veg bothered me a little in the smaller image but not at all in the larger one. In the larger one my eye went to the bird quickly and the detail was enough to hold it.

Dan

Registered on February 11, 2010, 143 Posts, 1248 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on December 4, 2010 at 3:30 PM

Dennis,

I love the light you had. Great texture in the fir trunk & mosses and I love the pose. The branch on the ULC doesn't bother me, but I like Chuck's idea of showing where that limb comes out of the tree.

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

Comment posted by Ian Mason on December 4, 2010 at 4:01 PM

There's a lot to enjoy in this image - the lichen, the snow, the pine needles and of course the bird! The evening sun has given it a very warm appearance and I might be inclined to cool it down just a little.

Registered on December 14, 2005, 399 Posts, 2305 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on December 4, 2010 at 4:05 PM

Just love all that is going on in this shot Dennis. The warm rich colors and textures for the lichen and snow really add up to a great comp IMO. The larger crop as taken its toll on some of the detail, but that is not too important here given all the great elements in the image. Really cool shot.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by Monica Siri on December 5, 2010 at 4:15 PM

Dennis,
the light, the colors, the setting make this shot very fine. I like it as posted.

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

Comment posted by May Haga on December 5, 2010 at 6:20 PM

Beautiful light and excellent detail in the trunk. I like this very much as posted.
May

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

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on December 16, 2010 at 9:28 AM

Like the classic pose and lichen covered branch, great details even with the large crop Dennis. Sound like a tough exposure scenario..
Well done & Merry Christmas

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments