The Black cap Chickadee is on a section of tree branch attached to the top of a feeder box. The feeder box is attached to a post in my back yard, I was sitting in my patio
Hi Timothy. I like the pose of the chickadee and the lattice in the background is actually pretty cool. The body of the Chickadee is nice and sharp, but the head is just slightly soft-I suspect from motion blur. They can move their heads awfully fast. It would help with critiquing if we new what your shooting parameters were (iso, shutter speed, aperture, focal length, and type/model of camera all come in handy). Also, if you crop the image or make major adjustments in processing it is helpful to know about them. I like the stick on the feeder-it’s a great way of getting shots. You might think about putting it to one side of the feeder to minimize background problems with the feeder mount. If you don’t ming a slightly unsightly setup, pvc pipe makes great supports for perches. Also, you might think about using a smaller branch if you get mostly small birds, so they’re more in proportion.
Welcome to the Avian forum and I look forward to seeing more of your work and getting your input on what others post.
Hey, Timothy. Welcome! Like Dennis, I like the overall composition of the photo, and the branch for perching was a great idea, though I would suggest it be smaller. Still, it’s a very nice photo. I like the bird facing away, but looking back at us. Overall, detail is nice.
Hello: Thanks for the reply, sorry I forgot to include details here they are.
Pentax K20D 75-300 Tamron f/4-5.6 at 200mm ISO 100 tripod mounted.
A nice way to invite birds to pose. Good points above about varying the size of the perches to fit the birds. A good trick when there is not a clean BG is to put up an artificial one. An easy one is a large piece of Masonite with a vaguely camo-like pattern painted on it – something that resembles OOF vegetation. The exposure on the bird is a bit low – if you are using auto exposure it would be responding to the lighter BG and the darker bird would be darker than its optimal exposure. Some correction can be made if you are shooting raw, but best to get it as close as possible at capture.
