Stonechat opinions sought

D7000 500mm f4 ISO 400 1/800s at f8 handheld

Twas a very windy day and I was struggling against the wind trying to get this stonechat so I rested my arms on the top of a fence post to steady myself and this is the result. Would very much welcome your opinions on this shot with the fenceposts being quite dominant.

Nick.

There's something about this which is very appealing.. Maybe it's the way the bird is framed in the oof fence top.
Little more detail in the head would be a bonus. Nice though.
JR

I agree with John, there is something appealing in this, especially in the large version where there does appear to be a little more detail in the head.

David

Hi Nick, i think the reason why it's appealing is because of the location, with a rather OOF 'graphic' backdrop ie the posts. I'm surprised about such a shallow DOF on the wire, however personally I might crop some of that, still allowing the wire to lead the eye to the subject. Perhaps opening the head up a fraction could bring out a bit more detail?

TFS
Steve

Nick can't make up my mind on this one,the bird looks nice but i'm not sure about the the rest of the image ie the oof fence maybe if there was a bit more detail in the fence it would help,it is almost like the bird is suspended in mid air.
I am sure others will look at this and have a totally different view and i stress that this is just the way i am looking at it, on the +side it is good to see something different and all the better for it.
Keith.

This one's got me doubting 30 odd years of image making Nick - thanks PAL

I can't put my finger on why, but I do like it.

One thing I might be tempted to do is 'dumb down' the highlight on top of the far post as it tends to drag the eye up and away from the subject.

Very interesting image - don't do it again, my brain won't stand it

Very appealing, even barbed wire in its shiny new state. Only thing is that foreground blur of the barbed wire, I would maybe blur it a little more by hand.

Many thanks for your comments. When I first saw the image I thought "that looks weird" but the more I looked at it the more I started to like it and I too am not sure why. Like Steve said it is a graphic view of the fence in that it is in the picture, but only just and looks almost ghostly. The posts either side of the bird are actually about 2m apart but look much closer due to the compression of the 500mm. I am still geting used to this and am amazed at some of the weird things this does to images.

Andy......sorry for upseting your brain!

Nick.

It works Nick. I wouldn't over analyse it! I think its because the OOF wire draws the eye to the bird. The 500mm compression works nicely for shots like this one. I'd maybe tone down the posts as Andy has suggested though.