Awesome composition. I've just searched some info about pishing. There is even a book of it ! Interesting

Great composition and nice bird angle.

Thanks guys! Everseen ... yes, I have several books on the subject! Pishing is a great way to both ID birds and also to photograph them. Many birds will typically hide in dense cover. Pishing mimics the alarm call of some small bird such as Chickadees and Titmice. When heard, many birds will respond by coming up out of their cover to see what the commotion is all about.

Regards,

Michelle

Lovely work and charming bird+10

A good capture of the bird Michelle. I'm not too fond of the composition as the plant tends to capture my attention before the bird. I'd like a bit more room on the left side too.
Having seen you do your pishing routine, it is a sight to behold!! Does make you seem a bit rabid however!

nice capture
not one of your best thought... the blurred parts are distracting and the bird isnt perfectly sharp it seems. Still a good work , as usually seen from you +8

great compo...agree about the blurred parts...

nice shot.
the composition is great.
agree with ThruMyEyez, more space at the left would be nice.

Nice catch!

I'd heal a few berries on same level as head (on its right side) in order for them not to distract from the bird to much.

Good work!
and I agree with moserArtist about the berries

Beautiful !! I love it.
+10

Great work & capture.

Good capture of a difficult bird. I like the background and the overall composition. I think the berries are good to stay. It wont look as special without them.

Two things that could improve this image: better exposure of the belly and a higher DOF I think it would have looked really neat with the plant in focus too (at least the fruit and those two big leaves).

It is still a great capture, especially knowing how difficult these sparrows can be. The colours, sharpness, and bird position are excellent.

Very nice capture Michelle
Agree with roadrunner about higher DOF

Beautiful capture
I like the DOF

nice capture !!

Very beautiful +9

Nice capture Michelle. As you can see from my latest post it's not quite so green up here in Alberta yet.

nice

Great capture, great photo.

Wow!!.....excellent capture!!....Great composition!
Good work Michelle!
Carlos

Really awesome composition!!!! Beautiful capture, Michelle!!

the whole picture looks kind of... unsettled... for me...
there are several reasons:

• the harsh contrast between the sparrow and the background... I KNOW that it looks like this with that DOF but somehow it is more disturbing in this picture than it would be in others.. maybe a little desatuation on the overall picture could help with this? or adjusting the black point...
• the sharpness of the twig compared to the bottom of the sparrow.. again, I know it could not be different here with that DOF, but nonetheless, a little different angle, maybe one F-number higher...
• the berries and the twig in the foreground... in contrast to the twig in focus... doesn't work here for me

I've been fiddling around a bit with the composition and the black point and I think I found an interesting alternative that avoids many of those problems by using a straighter composition... tell me what you think

Hi Lenz. Thanks for taking the time to work on this for my benefit. I like you version although I find the crop a bit abrupt and disturbing. Cropping the tail doesn't work for me and in general the bird seems too tightly wrapped withing the border. Of course we all have our preferences in how we approach compositions and I respect your opinions. Concerning the DOF ... It was early morning when I took this photo. Light levels were low and the sparrow was flitting around. i had no choice but to use the highest possible shutter speed in order to better freeze the bird's motion. This of course created the shallow DOF which was criticized in the comment section. On paper everyone is correct but in the field it was not feasible to use a narrow aperture.

Thanks again for your effort here.

Michelle

I know that Michelle, and I hope you know that I know that - the point people (inlcuding me) see not how a photo has come out but the difference from the outcome to the standards you set for your photos - and your other photos set a really high standard to reach, which this one in comparison (in my eyes) can't reach - as I said, at least for me, it's too unsettled.

Nonetheless, it's a really good photo and I would not do such a hard critique on it if I didn't know your high standards.

By the way, I keep mentioning that, most what I say these days is just more of a feeling than really knowing as I have been inactive for a long time and have to learn critizising effectively again - which means often I don't see the ideas for improvement even though they might be there and sometimes I critizise something that is perfectly okay.

The close crop in my suggestion was a bit out of need as I didn't have more space on top/bottom from your photo and wanted to try a 2/3 portrait format. Maybe going to 3/4 and adding a bit of space to the top, a little bit to the left and more to the right could be interesting as well, couldn't test that...

Anyways, keep up the good work

Beautiful wild greens and cute bird It looks like it staring at you

I'm really liking the lighting in this! Just seems happy! Nice job!

Great capture, very professional. +8/8

I like your capture... I'm interested in camera settings... can you add it please?

How cute is that?

Great capture

ooh birdie

Nice one, Michelle (just the way it is ). +10