Our Bluebird nest box seems to be attracting other feathered friends than just Bluebirds this year. We had Sparrows looking at it this week and then the Carolina Chickadee yesterday. They are more tolerant of humans, and since I had to move the box in closer this year after the farmer expanded his field and doing away with the road, I wasn’t sure that the Bluebirds would put up with that or continue to deal with the aggressive Mockingbirds. So I was pleased to see a couple of these Chickadees checking out the tree, box, bird bath and feeder. They seemed pleased before leaving so hopefully they will be back.
Type of Critique Requested
Aesthetic: Feedback on the overall visual appeal of the image, including its color, lighting, cropping, and composition.
Conceptual: Feedback on the message and story conveyed by the image.
Specific Feedback and Self-Critique
I cropped this in just a little and straightened it a bit going by the straight lines of the door opening. The box is at an angle to aim it Southeastward so the roof makes it look like it isn’t straight.
I’m wondering if the position of the house and the bird (almost center) works. Did I leave too much room for him to take off left, the way he is facing?
Technical Details
I shot this through my window with my Canon R5 and Sigma 150-600mm C lens at f7.1, 1/3200, ISO 800 (all manual except auto ISO). Edited in LR with minor adjustments.
This is really nice, the amount of space to the left, the colors, the pose, the birdbox and the Chickadee are wonderful
Just a note on straightening elements like the birdbox, if you want it to look straight, the only lines that matter are the vertical lines, the other lines will fall into place just fine.
Wide angle lenses like 10mm to 35mm can start causing some weird distortions but no worries at or above 50mm (in general).
And of course, a lot of it is just personal taste or artistic expressions and so on.
I really like the BG and the colors in this.
I hope your bluebirds come back soon.
We have seen only a couple so far this year, hopefully they will come back in higher numbers.
Sweet photo, Shirley! His pose does look like he is checking the place out. Love the detail in the bird and also how you have handled straightening the bird house. Looks great to me.
All looks good to me – the perspective feels natural and the bird’s pose is maybe the first page of a story. I hope I’ll see more of it, even if the characters change. I love the harmony of the bird’s colors with the house. I think you could have the option of a crop from the left – not necessarily a better image, just a different one. Nothing wrong with a twofer.
Good details and a nice pose, Shirley. Looks like he/she is asking it’s mate, “How 'bout this one?” I think the crop looks fine. It’s always fun when the birds start checking out the nest boxes, again. Well done.
The composition works fine for me, Shirley. As Mervin noted, as long as the verticals are vertical the rest can follow whatever lines it wants and you got them nicely vertical here. I love the pose on the Chickadee. We have a swallow box that the Black-capped Chickadees keep usurping here, but the swallows take it later and raise a brood.
What a pleasant surprise for you, Shirley. You captured a really cute pose for the bird hanging on tight to his new home. I love the tension in this shot. He looks ready to pounce on anything that fly’s by. Creative image for sure.
