I really like the expressions that you captured here
I dont think the crop is too tight, though one nit is there is something that feels unbalanced to me in the third image. Too much negative space in the bottom right perhaps?
Welcome, Richard. I like this series. Acorn woodpeckers are such odd looking birds with their white eyes that they’re always enjoyable and these image depict a nice variety of poses and activities. I agree with Matt about the third image feeling a little off balance. It’s hard to be sure without playing with it, but if you have the pixels, you might look at cropping from the right almost into the acorn on the bottom of the branch. You also might bring up the shadows a bit on that image as there’s a pretty harsh shadow on the bird’s face.
The brown hills make a wonderful distant background for these images.
Hi Richard, I like the poses, perch, and background in each image. Very interesting birds. Birds seem kind of soft in each image to me. Including the shooting settings could help with critiquing the images.
Thank you all for your very useful feedback! Allen, I did use a 2.0 teleconverter for these photos, which may explain some of the softness you are seeing in the birds. I can go back and check my shutter speed, but it was a bright sunny day, which helps with a 2.0 tc.
I like the first one and would crop some off the LH side which will strengthen the comp. Try some additional sharpening to see if that will help with the crispness of the images. Wonderful background…Jim
Nothing to add to the suggestions already made; just wanted to say I enjoyed the images. Great background. The first is my favorite with the poses and an interesting perch.
