Hi Bernard,

Thanks for fixing the link. I want to second Durwood's statement about photographing small birds. I am NOT very good at it, and I often marvel at some of the folks out here who do this.

To me, I always think when photographing anything - human or critter, that the eyes are the windows of the soul. To me, in order for a photograph to have to have real gravitas - particularly when doing something of a creature that is not on the move, having that contact between the viewer and the critter is very important. In this case, the one side of the bird's profile that you can see is extensively shadowed. As to the other issue of composition, I find that the various branches in the photograph are very distracting from the subject.

This is a hard photograph to take, and in several places it is very nicely done. For example, the white balance and colors look very natural. The body of the bird is 'right on.' Great detail in the feathers and the branch directly adjacent to the bird. However, the head is in complete shadow and the noise generated as a result is not the 'pleasant' kind that one looks for in an image. Unfortunately, exposing for the head may have caused some blow-out on the branch - though I think the body of the bird could handle another stop or so of light before losing detail.

I believe that some of this image could be improved by some creative use of post processing. While you will not lose the noise in the head of the bird, you may be able to bring out the body a bit more through the use of layers and curves.

Thanks for sharing, Bernard! I hope to see more of your work as you get comfortable here.

Cheers,
James