Critique Style Requested: Standard
The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
This tufted titmouse was busy feeding when I so rudely interrupted its meal. It looked up at me as if to say “please leave me be.” My mother called this bird the “tough-titted mouse.”
Specific Feedback
Any comments are welcome, but mostly, does this grab you? Or is it just another ordinary bird photo? Should I have attempted greater DOF to get more of the bird in focus? Darkened the background?
Technical Details
Nikon D7500, 18.0-300.0 mm ƒ3.5-6.3 lens
ISO 200 600 mm f7.1 1/500s
Elizabeth this is a neat, close-up look at this Titmouse, (your mother’s naming, not with standing 
). It’s always a treat to get so close, especially if you’re not hiding in a blind. The bird stands out well. However, it looks like your focus was on the back and shouldeer, not the eyes. If possible, a lower point-of-view would also be good, but that’s a different challenge. Titmouse are often pretty brave, so you may be able to train them to accept your presence, by sitting quietly (for long periods of time…)
I do like the pose, but find the dark area to be distractive. Also, think a slightly lower angle would work a bit better. I do like this subject and find your image interesting.
Hi Elizabeth, I too enjoy seeing them at my feeders and they have such a beautiful song. Agree with the other comments, but love the inquisitive pose you caught and soft lighting on him.
Thank you so much, Mark. Your comments–on this and on other posts–have me realizing that I need to be more patient in general, to sit and wait, to try different settings, etc. I am learning a great deal and I really appreciate it.
Thank you John, I hadn’t thought about that dark area but that’s helpful. I see what you mean, And yes, perhaps I should just sit on the ground where the birds are in this particular place.
Elizabeth, I agree with the other comments. I think most of us are still learning, and I think NPN is a great place to learn. We are all at different levels. Keep at it and keep sharing.
Hi Elizabeth. A very cool pose. I have a felling, part of the blur here might be due to motion. 1/500 sec is pretty slow for small birds as they can move amazingly fast. Living in the dark Pacific NW, I am usually at absurdly high iso’s , but 200 is far lower than necessary with your camera. Raising it would have let you get more depth of field and higher shutter speed. Your exposure on the snow and the bird looks pretty good, so you just need to play with the triumvirate of exposure variables to get where you want to be. The other issue I see with the image, is that I think you tried to zoom in closer than necessary (which also limits your depth of field). It is something that almost all beginning bird photographers do when they get close enough to do so with the equipment they have. I know at least one pro who insists that one should fill the frame with the subject, but in this case, you ended up amputating the tail in doing so.
I really like the light on the bird and the black lower left was probably difficult to avoid. Most birds don’t hang around when you move too much.
I like the expression you captured, Elizabeth. The Titmouse stands out nicely against the snow. Good advice above, but sometimes you just have to shoot with the settings you have as birds don’t wait for you to change them. I have my default shutter speed at 1/1000 and try to shoot as wide open as possible (as Dennis said about the dark NW) and I use auto ISO. The new NR software makes high ISO usually easy to deal with.
