Pied Wagtail

A garden job again - we are still full of snow here in Cheshire and I am still being a wimp and staying at home., The only good side to all this is there are far more birds in the garden than usual.
50d +400mm f5.6 on tripod
1/125"@400
F 5.6
Ap. Priority
-1EV
Evaluative.
C & C appreciated

A sweat image Kim, but it does look a tad too contrasty for me. At 1/125 @ 400 I think you might have got a little camera shake, as the detail is a little soft IMHO? Has it been cropped or is this full frame Kim?

TFS
Steve

Hi - thanks Steve - the crop is very little indeed - almost full frame, I do find pied wagtail difficult to get right in the snow; this repost was taken with the same setting a moment or two later on the logs which are covered in snow - I hesitated over which to post - if any

Good composition but agree with Steve re the sharpness. If the original is sharp then you might want to rejig your web processing.
Couple of nice shots, though, that I'd be more than happy with.

Simon

Hi Kim
Always hard to do - epsecially in snow !
You could drop the contrast a bit too. I like the second I think.
Cheers
John

Love both images, but the one I'd have a second go at is the second post as I love the pose you have captured Kim,looks great against the snow being a B+W bird,very cheeky chappy pose,very nice

I prefer the first image but as said, it is a bit soft.
Robert

Black and white against white is always difficult Kim but I think you have done well here. Like the second one especially. I've got one of these in my garden at the moment but haven't managed any shots yet.

I like the second one best. I'm not sure about the apparent softness - I often find the same with these birds. Could just be their plumage.

I may be wrong but these birds are seldom still for long and can be very difficult to get sharp sometimes. It does tend to show up in the feather detail.

Major

Really nice monochromatic feel to the first image Kim with both the foreground and background matching the bird's plumage

I like both images although have preference for the first.

Ian

Both lovely images, but I prefer the first one. Agree about the contrast but I think you have done well.