Greenfinch

Greenfinch at pool.
D200
Sigma 40-500mm
ISO 640

125th @f11
JohnR

Hi John,

Lovely pose! Like the look backwards.
Wonder if "blurring" the surroundings might improve this one.

Greetings,

Jeroen Stel

Hi John

Very nice image - I like the pose and angle of view. I think that I've become a bit brainwashed and assume that all shots should have a creamy OOF background, but the BG here isn't distracting and I think adds context to the picture.



Mark

A good pose/angle of the bird.

Nice shot John, head turn works well, I'd forgotten how colourful Greenfinches can be.

Andy...

Lovely detail John, but agree with Jeroen about the BG

Steve

Thanks.
I'll have a go at the background later.
JohnR

Fine looking specimen of a Greenfinch John.
I to would try some blur work on the BG.

Major.

Thanks all.
I have looked at the comments and they seem to revolve around a "blurred background"
Are my eyes better than I thought ? The background to me is not particularly sharp.
Why does it need to be any more blurred? Is it a noise issue ?
JR

Noise doesn't seem to be too much of an issue in the background it's just that it's quite distracting and draws the eye away from the bird, mainly because it's very light in colour particularly the areas of bright sky being reflected in the water. Of course that's just one way of looking at it and is only one person's opinion. On the other hand the background gives a good glimpse and indication of the bird's immediate surroundings and tells more of a story than a straight portrait would against a completely diffused backdrop. The water's clearly visible and the image portarays a bird on a perch very close to water where his next move could well be to have a drink or a bath.
Whether the image works or not is definately just down to personal preference and what the image means to you.
My initial reaction was that the background spoilt the portrait of the bird, but on reflection I now find it a more interesting image than I perhaps initially thought.

Thanks Justin
Surely though ,if I blur the background it will look as though it was taken with a lens of a different focul length. But it was'nt ! So why fake it !!
It's all beyond me to be honest
JR

Surely though ,if I blur the background it will look as though it was taken with a lens of a different focul length. But it was'nt ! So why fake it !!

I quite agree. I wasn't suggesting diffusing the background after the shot has been taken. I think if you want a blurred background then shoot it that way in the first place, which you clearly didn't anyway. Not that I'm knocking that technique as it could well be used to quite good effect in some circumstances I guess.
Give me ten minutes with a strimmer (I was meaning to say one of those hand tools with the short handle and curved blade, but my brain's gone dead and after 10 minutes of consulting a dictionary, I still couldn't find the spelling for what I was looking for) in preference to the blur tool any day of the week.

Justin
I know where you are at. Its basically that I am a naturalist taking nature pics not a photographer doing nature . Big difference maybe. This bird shot is as it was.
That'll do for me.I don't really enjoy the processing part
JohnR

Don`t go a bundle on these birds against smooth backgrounds myself. Most may as well have been stuffed birds shot in a studio. So, I would leave the background as is, but I would crop out the vertical twig creeping in in lower left: I think that is distracting!