Sky Bird

Image Critiques Avian Critiques
1

PRH_5318-Edit-6.jpg
PRH_5318-Edit-6.jpg2048×1365 1.41 MB

Critique Style Requested: Standard

The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.

Description

There is a little side road that I like to go down on my way to various construction jobs in Big Sky Montana. It gets me off the main road, and offers many opportunities for wildlife sightings. On this day several years ago, I watched this Mountain Bluebird going back and forth between this perch and the ground where he was finding insects. Watching him inspired this little poem.

Sky Bird

A piece of sky fell and lit on a tree.
The toneless sky gasped and begged for its hue
But the blue cared not, he looked so fancy
He liked his contrast and soaked up the view
and flitted around, content to be free
His flight caught my eye and my gaze, it grew
He landed so close, as if just for me
So I captured this scene to share with you!

Specific Feedback

This was taken with an old Tamron 200-500 that was nearing the end of its life. I used to leave it on the camera on the front seat as I made the daily drive from Bozeman, Montana to work in Big Sky. It was a good friend to me for many years but was becoming kinda loose at the zoom ring and didnt have an internal focus motor so focus was slow to acquire sometimes. I think the focus was about as good as it could be with this lens, but Topaz Sharpen fixed it right up! I have a shot of it with only a gray sky, but I thought the blurry trees in the background added a bit.

Technical Details

Nikon D7100
Tamron 200-500mm
f/9, 1/800. 500 mm

I used several masks in Lightroom, one to enhance the bird a bit and the other to further soften the background

Critique Template

Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.

  • Emotional Impact:
  • Mood Creation:
  • Composition:
  • Balance and Visual Weight:
  • Depth and Dimension:
  • Textures and Patterns:
  • Use of Color:
  • Lighting:
  • Subject and Genre:
  • Post-processing:
  • Technical Aspects:
2 Likes
2

Wonderful portraiture of this Mountain Bluebird. Reading your comment on the Tamron brought back fond memories of my old manual 300mm (1.4 & 2.0 adapters) I used with my old N-90. I like the poem as fits perfectly too. The blurred BG seems to work very well here… :+1: :+1:
btw: I use to Drag Race with two friends of mine for years that were from Montana. One from Billings and the other from Butte. They were both teachers here in So Cal… :sunglasses:

1 Like
3

A beautiful image of this Bluebird, Paul. I love the little head turn and the background is perfect. You did a wonderful job of bringing out all the different shades of blue in this bird which is difficult to do without making it look overdone. I see so many birds perched on the tips of our Douglas Firs out here that this seems just about perfect as a typical perch. This couldn’t have been very soft with the detail it’s showing now, so that lens must have been doing pretty well.

2 Likes
4

Hi Paul, nice image and poem. I like the head turn and the tiptop perch. Beautiful color of blue and the BG is complimentary also. Well done.

5

Awesome color and detail . Nice head turn and comp.

6

Congrats on well deserved EP. A real beauty.

7

Well worthy of an EP. Congrats! I like the comp, colors, and the BG which frames the bluebird perfectly…Jim

8

Gorgeous mountain bluebird, Paul. The expression, the pose, the environmental bit offered up by the tip a small pine or fir: They all come together to make this a really nice image. The out of focus bg fir provides such a wonderful contrasting color for the bird himself. And he’s a lovely, healthy specimen too.

No nits from me. Thanks for sharing this,
ML

9

Did you ever race in Anaconda? I’ve never been to it, but I hear there’s a drag strip there.

10

@Dennis_Plank @Allen_Sparks @David_Schoen @Allen_Brooks @Jim_Zablotny @Marylynne_Diggs Thanks so much for all the kind words. Many days I’ve gone out chasing Bluebirds and not had much luck. As so often happens, this time I was just driving by and the opportunity presented itself!

1 Like
11

Paul, no nothing that far north. I did get up to Sacramento Ca. and Las Vegas was the farthest north that I can recall. The two friends I knew from Butte & Billings mentioned a Glendive Raceway. Not sure where that was in that area of the north.