Red-breasted Nuthatch

While many of the local species are in their post-breeding molt and the adults are looking pretty decrepit, I noticed this Nuthatch the other day and that it looked nice and fresh. I went out to my blind today with some reasonable cloud cover and was lucky enough to have it put in an appearance (twice). I managed to grab one frame when it was in this position.

What technical feedback would you like if any?

Lot’s of work on removing distracting grass blades in this one-hopefully it doesn’t look too bad in the background.

What artistic feedback would you like if any?

The composition ended up a bit unusual. I took canvas off the top and right to get here. Adding canvas with that background didn’t look like a good idea.

Pertinent technical details or techniques:

7DII, Sigma 150-600 C @ 600 mm, tripod with ball head and Sidekick, f/8, 1/320, iso 2000, manual exposure. Processed in LR & PS CC. Noise reduction with Neat Image. Just a very little feather enhancement with Topaz Detail. Cropped to 4290x3348 before resizing for the web. Taken today at 1:30 pm under partly cloudy skies and in the shade.

If you would like your image to be eligible for a feature on the NPN Instagram (@NaturePhotoNet), add the tag ‘ig’ and leave your Instagram username below.
You may only download this image to demonstrate post-processing techniques.
1 Like

Nice pose and detail and I like the overall scene with the tree and grass. I could see trying to remove the grass in the right upper corner.

You got a sweet pose, Dennis. Your composition with the tree on top is a little off-beat, but works for this image. DOF and colors look good too. The oof brighter blade of grass immediately below the nuthatch’s head is a little distracting. You might considering cloning that out.

A very nice capture of this Nuthatch, Dennis! This view really shows off its wing feathers yet you still got an eye and the diagonals make for an interesting composition. I like it!