I like the look of the bird grasping on to the read. Excellent bokeh in the back. The one bright out of focus read on the right could be eliminated. It appears you had plenty of ISO to play with, so you might have experimented with stopping down the lens to get increased depth of field, although the head is nice and sharp.   Posted: 11/11/2024 16:44:22

Thanks Jerry, Good catch with the bright out of focus reed. I can not believe I miss that. I guess that is why we belong to a group so we can get others observations. Bruce   Posted: 11/12/2024 05:27:56

Bruce, I love the simplicity and colors in this image. Great pose mid-call with the wings and tail spread out.
I'm seeing halos around the bird. Not sure if that is from the slow shutter speed or an artifact of the work on the background?   Posted: 11/15/2024 02:29:58

Yes a very stunning bird and you captured the details/color of it. For me you have enough detail and not bothered by the tail feathers out of focus. Perhaps cropping in from the right a bit to get that short bight weed out of the photo. I have taken recently to begin shooting wide open (landscapes) which gives a much different look (I like it) than all in focus landscape. However do not have f2.8/f4 long lens to get the same effects for birds.   Posted: 11/18/2024 17:45:36

Thanks Steve, I surely missed dealing with the bright weed, Cindy caught that as well. Interesting concept to shoot wide open for landscapes, I will have to try it. I do have 400 2.8 and an 800 5.6 for birds a 13-19 2.8 and 24-70 Bruce2.8. I hope you will post one of your landscape examples for us to see. Bruce   Posted: 11/18/2024 18:41:50

Bruce - Yes a captivating colourful bird, taken (I presume) in its preferred location.
Capturing it as it just moves works for me and the important bits are tack sharp. How about a portrait view? Very nice image.   Posted: 11/20/2024 17:04:58