Painted Bunting

Gallery: AvianPosted January 25, 2013123 views5 comments

This is a painted bunting just post mating season last year. This was captured using a canon 7D mounted to a 500mm canon f4 IS lens. This was taken near Cave Springs, AR in late afternoon light against a forest bokeh. I'm new to the forum and would appreciate your general comments about this photo.

Comments

5 comments

Comment posted by Patricia Brundage on January 26, 2013 at 6:56 AM

Hi Mike. Nice eye sharpness with highlight, unusual position and action. First thought is whether you could tone down the two circular highlights in the background, but then again they are placed nicely to draw the viewer's attention to the bird. I do not usually post in avian but it is a pleasure to see this species... one I have never seen before.

Registered on March 23, 2006, 1111 Posts, 6531 Comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on January 26, 2013 at 9:53 AM

Hi Mike: Welcome to NPN. Thanks for posting in the Avian forum. Looking forward to your participation posting and commenting on other images. This is an interesting pose. My first reaction was that the two large highlights in the back draw the viewer away from your subject. The large perch is another element that brings attention. The tonal values of both are going to cause people to be distracted from the intent of the image. At the 720 pixel size, I can't tell for sure, but it appears there is a bit of noise creeping into the image. You didn't list the ISO, shutter speed, aperture. That metadata can help provide more insightful critiques. You also have the option of posting a 1200 sized image when you post. Looking forward to your participation. NPN is a great place to learn.

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on January 26, 2013 at 1:27 PM

Hi Mike, welcome to NPN! You got a really cool pose from this guy, and I like the perch and composition. I'm not crazy about the big white highlights, and would consider trying to darken them up a little in photoshop. When posting, if you provide a larger 1200 pixel version, as well as things like shutter speed, aperture, ISO, and crop percentage it can go a long way to helping people evaluate the final image and understand what you did (or might have done differently).

I hope you'll find NPN a great place to learn, and as you settle in, I encourage you to be sure to comment on others' photos--this will often teach you as much as the critiques that you receive.

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

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on January 26, 2013 at 10:36 PM

Welcome to the forum, Mike. Nice subject for a first post. I like the pose. The perch seems a bit dominant to me-probably because the bird is behind it. The two large spots of sky behind the bird really draw the eye away from it. Forest shots can be to8ugh that way unless you can get a hill or something in the bg that keeps the bright spots down. Nice eye contact and exposure on the bird looks good to me.

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

Comment posted by Mike Martin on January 26, 2013 at 11:05 PM

Thanks for your feedback. This was my first post and I appreciate your comments and suggestions!!

Registered on January 25, 2013, 4 Posts, 6 Comments