Black-throated Sparrow

A wonderful colour palette. I like the composition and the slight turn of the head. Though a small point (and a personal preference), I might be inclined to selectively darken the perch, with the aim of highlighting the sparrow, particularly against that great background.

Terrific detail, Richard. It seems to go on and on. Also like the muted color of the bg.

He's a beauty, sweet photo Richard

Ken Archer

Nice light, detail and position Richard! Just a very nice clean shot with the perfect choice for DOF.

Very nice shot Rich. Wonderful detail and texture in the larger version. I think personally I'd like to see a bit more of the barrel cactus he's perching on--with this crop the spines almost look like grass. What a beautiful shot of the quintessential desert sparrow.

What a wonderfully appealing little sparrow Rich. The cactus setting is perfect as is just about everything else in this image - I love it! I can see Brian's point about wanting to see more cactus but for me you've framed this just right as I wouldn't want to miss out on the wonderful detail by pulling back.

Nice to see you shooting from your vehicle occasionally...

Rich, this is super. What a great looking bird. I have never seen this species and you provide a great image to pour over. I really like how all the colors work and the great BG and perch plant. Your comp is perfect IMO. Very well done.

A beautiful Sparrow well captured Rich. I wish we got those here ..
Do you have something against set-up shots or something ?

I like the pose, setting and shared tone of bird and background.

I love the way he's hanging onto those sharp spines. The subtle colors make the black throat stand out. Beautiful details as always. I think your comp is just right.

Wonderful encounter Richard - great perch and a lovely background. Also like the slightly cocked head.

cheers
Rob

Beautiful image. The background and the dry grass at the feet of the Black-throated Sparrow seem to complement the colors of the bird.

Beautiful, Richard. I really like the texture added by the grass perch.

Nice image of this beautiful species. Some of the best bird photos are setups





darrenmckenna.com

A few clarifications.

1. Brian got it right - the perch is the top of a barrel cactus; not grass as a few comments have assumed.

2. since the perch is part of a native cactus I have presented it in as accurate of a color and tone as possible. I agree that it would make the image more dramatic if this area was darker, but I'll leave such manipulations to pictorialists as I prefer to stay on the natural side as much as I can.

3. I prefer photographing birds where they choose to be doing what they want to do - a big part of the pleasure of nature photography for me comes from the random encounters with birds. Setups and bait seem too much of a manipulation for me - they are much more about controlling the bird and making it perform for the photographer, rather than observing the bird going about its own business. That shouldn't be interpreted to mean that I don't enjoy looking at quality results from setups; it just means that it is not the way I work. Those who have been around a while at NPN likely have seen me make many similar statements about my preferences.

Richard:
Wonderful capture. I love the way all the colors work so well together and the sharpness of the image.

Great shot Richard. I have no nits on this one.

Rich,

I'm sorry I was so slow to comment on this spectacular image.

I love the cactus spine perch, the great pose of the sparrow and the wonderful tonal variations withing the image. Very appealing image as presented and one I would be proud to have in my files!

Excellent all around.