I am torn on this image with the white sky but I think it works. I think the bird stands out enough to offset the blown out sky but just not sure.
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Cedar Waxwing
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Nice. Capturing the catchlight in the eye surrounded by black is no easy feat. well done
Thank you, just wish it would have been a pretty blue sky.
Woody Meristem
Well-known member
The quality of the bid's image cartainly offsets the white sky to my eye. It would be nice to have a light blue sky behind the bird, but the rendering of the bird is much more important than the hue of the sky. With wildlife, especially birds, you take what you're dealt. By the way, that's a beautiful picture.
Thank you
Good pic! That would be a good candidate for a high key B/W conversion 
‘Let not the perfect be the enemy of the good!’ Very nice photo and the sky more restful than a blue one, and doesn’t look blown out either.
Thank you
Steven, I seldom publically critique images from other photographers because we each have a unique vision, and applying my vision to your image may not help much. But, since you asked, I would say this: I think the grey sky actually compliments the white and brown of the bird by keeping the image in a more analogous color palette. We generally like blue sky, but here, the blue might draw the eye away from the subject due to increased color contrast. I like the image colors just as they are — very calm and serene. The Waxwing has such beautiful smooth feathers that it almost begs for a ‘quiet’ presentation. The catchlight is perfect and adds a nuance that I often struggle to obtain.
Overall, a very nice image. Thanks for sharing it.
Overall, a very nice image. Thanks for sharing it.
Not an ideal BG but everything else about the image is excellent. Maybe not a contest winner but overall a fine shot IMO.
Thank you
Thank you
Thank youVery nice shot!The sky compliments the bird. Good effort.
The white sky is not ideal, but the subject is nicely lit and sharp. I actually find the OOF area along the right side more distracting. Perhaps turning that part of the image white would help in overall image. But then compositionally, the remaining limb would bisect the image separating the bird from the direction he is looking.
However, if the image "works" for your intended purposes, that is fine. But I know you have many more images that are stronger!
However, if the image "works" for your intended purposes, that is fine. But I know you have many more images that are stronger!
I thought about cloning out the tree on the right side but wasn't sure how it would look. I think I'm also going to try B&W to see how that looks. It's a pretty bird but was uncooperative with posing lolThe white sky is not ideal, but the subject is nicely lit and sharp. I actually find the OOF area along the right side more distracting. Perhaps turning that part of the image white would help in overall image. But then compositionally, the remaining limb would bisect the image separating the bird from the direction he is looking.
However, if the image "works" for your intended purposes, that is fine. But I know you have many more images that are stronger!
Is this better or worse?
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Gorgeous bird either way but I like the B&W presentation!
Thank you. It is less distracting without the limb and tree in the background.
Agreed.
Looking at the color image, it seems you could have also cropped into a Portrait (vertical) aspect ratio, lost most of the out of focus branch and still maintained a composition where the Waxwing isn't looking out the right side of the frame. Just a thought...
Love the colour version actually. Magnificence of the bird lost in B&W for me, Steven. Who knows? 
Thank you. I think I like the color more as well.Love the colour version actually. Magnificence of the bird lost in B&W for me, Steven. Who knows?
Isaac Grant
Member
I like the stately pose and the nice eye contact. I have some guidelines that I follow for songbird images and while everyone has different criteria for what they find as a good photo here are mine. Of course there are exceptions to everything and if you have great action or something else then these rules may not apply. The perch needs to be beautiful and interesting. Here you just have a stick with no greenery at all or something to make it interesting. The backgrounds needs to compliment and enhance the photo. Without a good background I do not even keep songbird images or take them for that matter. Here you have a plain white sky. I shoot all of my songbirds at or below eye level. Here you have a steep angle which I do not prefer. I prefer my birds to be tack sharp with plenty of details. Not sure if it is because of compression to get the photo to posting size but the waxwing looks very smooth and without fine feather details. The black of the mask and wings in particular. For these reasons I would not consider this photo a keeper. For what it is worth I have only had one really good opportunity with Cedar Waxwings over the years where I was able to get a photo with my above criteria. This is despite seeing them hundreds of times. I literally see them in my yard every day all summer but they are always 30 feet up and do not provide any good photo opps. So I recognize the difficulty that they present but do feel that you could do much better one day when you finally get a chance with the right bird in the right spot. Hope that helps...