Black-billed Magpie

Dan: They may be common but they are a nightmare to photograph. I've never got one this good, the eye is very visible and sharp, and you handled the whites and black perfectly. My only wish is for some iridescence to show through. Nice perch too!

Very nice. great exposure on the blacks and the whites and I also love the snow

Dan, Great detail here - a very tough thing to get with magpies. Excellent!
The white thing in the lower right detracts a lot for me.
I'd add some canvas to place him off-center, if it were mine.
Sandy r

I really like the frosty perch and your comp is perfect for this species Dan. I'd take out the small branch in the lower right and I wish for a little more light on the face.

They are common here in SE Alberta as well but they are difficult to get a good image of. You have a excellent shot here. Great job getting him perched in the open.


darrenmckenna.com

They are common in Alberta too Dan. They are also very clever and I don't have any decent photos of them. There is a lot to like here, the nice pose, with wonderful clarity in the eye for example. I really like that frosty perch, very cool. I might be tempted to eliminate the little secondary perch in the lower right, but it isn't distracting either though.

I like the exposure and the perch a lot. Very nice.

Dan,

They are very common here too but difficult to get images of, they are a very wary species and challenging to photograph because of the blacks & whites.

I like the pose, the great light in the eye and that frosty perch. I'd be tempted to remove the OOF branch tip at the LRC

Nice Dan. I'd add more canvas on the left.

Good perch and I would be inclined to remove the branch in the right corner myself but overall a wonderful image, detail and light really make this image, well done.

Dan, very nice job on the exposure. I too would crop in more on the right and add to the left. I love the snow on the perch.

Dan, I like the pose, your comp (not easy with this long tailed rascal) and the deep frost on the side of the perch. I do wish for more detail in the darks of the face and I'm seeing a narrow halo, esp around the perimeter of the blacks.

Very nice Dan. Good work with such a high contrast subject.

I'll offer two minor suggestions: first would be to lighten the black on the face to bring up a little more detail and the second is to clone out the twig with snow in the lower right corner.

I second Ed's two suggestions.