The bird was in the shade, with fill light from a shop light. Minor tonal adjustments and denoise in LR; into PS for some minor dodge and burn. Landscape format cropped from the sides.
Critique Template
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Exceptional image with really pleasing colors, detail, perch, and pose. The background works really well. This is a very nice image and very pleasing to look at. The food item in the beak makes me hungry!
To capture this image had to be a challenge. Very sharp and clear and I really like the blues in the wings. Maybe crop a little off the top.. Maybe not. How long did you have to wait to grab this guy with a bug in his mouth.
That’s one great meal he’s bringing in, Diane. The detail in the plumage, perch and background are all top notch. I also like the signs of parenthood wear in the plumage.
Excellent, Diane. The meal takes it to the next level, but the pose and detail in the bluebird is great. The background is pleasing and the perch is attractive and the lichen blends in well with the bird’s coloring.
this is my partner eating bug cocoons at a street market in Beijing. This was taken about 2008. So yes, bugs make a nice snack. just went one of the many unusual foods we saw in China. then we didn’t have a bad meal at all in our one month visit and tour around the country
David
Thanks, @Gill_Vanderlip, @Dennis_Plank, @Allen_Brooks! Gill, when the babies are very small the parents don’t feed them as often – I assume they sleep a lot – but the parents will wait nearby with the food, maybe until they hear peeping? But when they get bigger the parents are run ragged bringing bugs as fast as they can catch them, so the intervals are a little irregular but on the average it was running maybe every 1-5 min. I was sitting very still, hands on the camera, which was on a tripod pre-aimed at this perch. And sometimes they just flew straight to the nestbox.
Dennis, I have other views that make him look even worse. I’ll post another that looks like he’s getting gray.
@David_Schoen, looks yummy!! I don’t remember seeing snacks like this in China (but probably did), but at the temple in Narita (Japan) vendors were selling what looked like fried frogs on sticks. We didn’t know if they were for snacking or making offerings. But yes, the food anywhere in Asia has always been wonderful! The street market in Singapore was top-notch.
Nothing not to like about this image. It’s gorgeous. I really like the browness in the perch mimics the birds breast. Just wonderful as posted but also agree that a smidge off the top could work as well.
Diane, I am leaning torward your OP. If there is any reason, I would think it is because the bird is looking toward that top right corner..the way he would fly off.
Lighting was perfect to get those blues captured. Both versions are OK, but I’ll go with the OP because I like the extra space at the top. Perch and BG are excellent as well and bluebirds always show their best color on cloudy days or in the shade…Jim
Thanks, @Dennis_Plank, @Glenys_Passier, @Jim_Zablotny and @Max_Waugh! If he hadn’t had such a tasty-looking bug I might not have shot this one. I can’t imagine how they manage to cram something this size down a baby’s throat.
