Where's the Sparrow?

Gallery: AvianPosted January 12, 2013121 views13 comments

I suspect most people won't care for this one, but I have a penchant for half hidden birds and I really liked the light on the dead foliage it was gleaning.

7D, 300mm f4 ISL on beanbag. f4, 1/1600, iso 320, Av mode with no compensation. Normal processing in CS5. Cropped to 14.8 MP. Taken at Ridgefield NWR on January 2nd at 10:27 am.

Your comments and criticisms are always appreciated.

Thanks for looking.

Comments

13 comments

Comment posted by Sharon Hallowell on January 12, 2013 at 11:31 PM

The light is pretty neat on this. Nice warm colors. I'm impressed that you got the bird that sharp with all the stuff in front! Kind of gives us a glimpse of what it's like to live in his world. Sharon

Registered on November 1, 2003, 392 Posts, 4810 Comments

Comment posted by Verdon on January 12, 2013 at 11:32 PM

man one of you is spy for sure, nice hidden in its own environment/habitat!. Lately I am enjoying the pictures what they are not waaaay to perfect......sweet work!

Registered on June 10, 2011, 147 Posts, 1444 Comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on January 12, 2013 at 11:43 PM

I am surprised you spotted this bird to take the neat photo. Well done. Thanks for sharing.

Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments

Comment posted by Hans Overduin on January 13, 2013 at 4:21 AM

Well Dennis, I like this natural shots with an element on hide and seek in it ! Well done, nice light ! Cheers, Hans

Registered on August 31, 2011, 491 Posts, 3807 Comments

Comment posted by Charles Gangas on January 13, 2013 at 9:28 AM

Nice light and colors Dennis. I agree that most folks would prefer a cleaner perch, but I like seeing subjects in habitat in clutter such as this. I think you have good detail considering the obscuration, but to my eye it seems the focus point was on the wing and the head is a tad soft. Another round of sharpening there perhaps?

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

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on January 13, 2013 at 10:05 AM

The setting does force one to focus on the sharp eye & catch-light Dennis, it's out of the box I agree..
Also agree that that light play adds some drama to this game of hide & seek

Well done

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

Comment posted by Mike Ramy on January 13, 2013 at 5:26 PM

Dennis,
This is Outstanding and a pleasure to look at, Excellent work.

Registered on June 16, 2012, 567 Posts, 2809 Comments

Comment posted by S Govindarajan on January 13, 2013 at 5:44 PM

Touch shot to get with all the obstruction in front, Dennis. I have tried this myself with more failures than successes. Excellent work getting the eye sharp. I really like the colors and light. The headturn and habitat both make this an attractive image.

Registered on April 19, 2008, 115 Posts, 1921 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on January 13, 2013 at 8:57 PM

I have a penchant for half hidden birds

Me too!

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

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on January 13, 2013 at 9:52 PM

I like seeing something different and this has a nice abstract quality to it. I just wish for the beak to be visible just like the eye but the rest of OOF areas really look cool.

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

Comment posted by John Launstein on January 13, 2013 at 11:43 PM

Well count me firmly in the camp who DO care for this one, Dennis! I think it's a very cool portrait that captures much more story than the normal clean bird on a stick image. What makes it work particularly well is the great lighting and wonderful tones and overall palette though. And I LOVE the effect created by the OOF zones.

It looks like sadly there might be a little head movement at the time of capture, but this is still a wicked cool image in my books!

Registered on April 5, 2011, 223 Posts, 1193 Comments

Comment posted by Graham Brown on January 14, 2013 at 10:48 AM

This could start a new trend Dennis. This is what we often see but never photograph..I like the idea and can see the potential of this type of habitat shot.Well spotted. Graham

Registered on November 20, 2007, 275 Posts, 1365 Comments

Comment posted by Robert Bunch on January 16, 2013 at 10:44 AM

I like it alot! Tired of the usual "perfect" perch, "perfect" BG, "perfect" pose etc. If I was making the decision this would be a candidate for weekly winner.

Registered on May 18, 2004, 124 Posts, 2503 Comments