a-little-askew

I suppose it is natural that after photographing birds for some time,

I would become more and more interested in their expressions and

postures or what I can project. During the past few cold days I seem

to detect some expressions and postures I hadn’t noticed before. I

suspect the birds are thinking the same thing about me shivering in

the cold trying to get a picture. Comments and critique appreciated.

Hi Wayne,

  Wonderful capture with beautiful details & lighting.  Take care, Patsy

Wayne, great close up of our friend.

One thing I tell people is not to throw bread out for the birds, it artificially bloats their stomach and may cause them to freeze at night. Always provide something high in fat, such as peanuts, suet. Birds are even meat eaters, if you have an extra piece of bacon put it in the feeder, that fat will keep them warm.

That's my tip for the day

I hear you.  I'm reaching that stage myself though I've only been at this type of photography for about a year.  Birds on a branch!  Pretty static stuff, but if I see a bird I haven't photographed before I'll take what I can get.  A bit of animation, or as Jay Maisel likes to say, a 'gesture' would go a long way to offset that static photo.  Looks like this little guy is playing 'hard to get'.  But you did get the beak and, in spite of the odd angle of his head, that all desired catch light in the eye.  So, something a bit different.  Great detail in the feathers as well.  Overcast light is good!  And thanks, Tony, for the feeding tip.  No bread!  Save that for the pesky tree rats (squirrels) :-)  Kidding of course!  Best, Len.

So that is a next step in your work and for sure become more interesting,I see sometime in birds photos(especially small one in winter)that we can see if we can say an ''expression'' in there posture,who knows what in there mind.I like the tonality here and how the eye is seen with a bit of light.I like how sharp claws look on the icy branch.I must say that me too I did few shot in winter with chaffinches that I fed with bacon(they like it a lot and eaten unbelievable  fast.I like this result here and wait for more to see,by the way:what is your opinion about this lens you have for this( Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 APO)?

best regards and lot of luck for more excellent shots to be

Patsy,

Many thanks.  Getting out in this weather photographing has made me appreciate more your beautiful winter images.

Tony,
Many thanks.  Great info for me and probably others.  I am developing an attachment to these creatures and they “tell me” they love expensive sunflower seeds.  Didn’t know they were meat eaters; I'm not. So they are out of luck there.

Len,
Many thanks.  Sounds like you understand this passion very well and share my …disdain for those pesky tree rats.  But I must admit I will sneak a pic now and then of those cute little destructive creatures.

Radu,
Many thanks.  It is always very encouraging to get an appreciative nod from you.  So I am the only one who didn’t know about this meat eating thing?  Ha, Ha.  Not very knowledgeable about lenses but chose this Sigma because of some glowing reviews and the price (without image stabilization).  Frankly, for my untrained eye, it appears to have the best resolution/sharpness of any lens I have used.  I began a self-assignment about 6 months ago to use a tripod pretty much all the time.  When I first put this lens on a tripod I was truly amazed.  Very astute of you to recognize what this lens was doing.

A beautiful result, very nicely composed too, Wayne!

Ruud,

Many thanks. I feel lucky when a pose presents and there's a cooperative background.