Mountain bluebird female

Gallery: AvianPosted March 15, 2010208 views30 comments

The bluebirds have returned to central Montana. They nest in my yard, and I love to photograph them. No good photos of the male, yet.
Backyard blind, set up perch. Background is dried grass hillside.
D90, 300f4, 1/640, f8, iso 200, natural light.
Small crop, curves, sharpening.
All comments appreciated. Constructive criticism invited.

Comments

30 comments

Comment posted by Kirk Greene on March 15, 2010 at 2:23 PM

The wonderful light was perfect for bringing out all the detail in the bluebird's plumage. Nice job with the setup, I love the BG!

Registered on May 12, 2004, 191 Posts, 1578 Comments

Comment posted by Joe Paratore on March 15, 2010 at 2:24 PM

Very very nice shot..... Dan No nits from me.
Love the overall browns and tan colors. very complementary.
Great BG

Registered on January 31, 2007, 40 Posts, 160 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on March 15, 2010 at 2:25 PM

Sweet detail and light in this one Dan. Love the BG and the bird's head turn. Nice perch you picked out. These are very striking birds. Well executed.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on March 15, 2010 at 2:36 PM

Nice use of the light here; excellent image quality. Well done.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on March 15, 2010 at 2:49 PM

She's a beauty Dan! Extremely sharp and a great perch!

Ken Archer

Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments

Comment posted by KC Choo on March 15, 2010 at 3:07 PM

Fabulous shot, Dan! You are so lucky to have these nest at home.

Registered on November 15, 2004, 519 Posts, 8278 Comments

Comment posted by Cheryl Molennor on March 15, 2010 at 3:13 PM

Perfect all over

Registered on June 30, 2009, 300 Posts, 5051 Comments

Comment posted by István Molnár on March 15, 2010 at 3:30 PM

Nice comp. and nice BG.
István

Registered on January 7, 2010, 114 Posts, 704 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on March 15, 2010 at 3:36 PM

Perfect shot in every way for my tastes. Very nicely done!

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on March 15, 2010 at 3:51 PM

Impressive detail, good composition and fun shapes

- Luke

Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments

Comment posted by Mauro Pasquero on March 15, 2010 at 3:59 PM

Beautiful shot, Dan. I love it.
Mauro

Registered on January 21, 2010, 650 Posts, 2500 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on March 15, 2010 at 4:46 PM

Sweet image, Dan. Lovely palette, composition and detail.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Roy Bailey on March 15, 2010 at 4:56 PM

An all round excellent image Dan.

Especially like the brown tones.

Registered on November 16, 2008, 24 Posts, 486 Comments

Comment posted by May Haga on March 15, 2010 at 6:44 PM

Excellent. The bird is nice and sharp and has an interesting pouting look. The composition, perch and background are perfect.
May

Registered on February 22, 2007, 714 Posts, 8470 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Saunders on March 15, 2010 at 7:38 PM

Very nicely done Dan . Very cool perch and BG.

Registered on February 6, 2008, 321 Posts, 3035 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Moore on March 15, 2010 at 7:55 PM

looks good A-Z.
These past few days have produced some memorable images.This one is among the best.

Dan

Registered on February 11, 2010, 143 Posts, 1248 Comments

Comment posted by Bob McQuade on March 15, 2010 at 9:19 PM

Very nice. The subtle coloring, crisp FG and great BG make for a wonderful image. Good work!

Registered on October 8, 2009, 214 Posts, 432 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on March 15, 2010 at 9:32 PM

You ARE the man when it comes to Mtn. Bluebirds. This one is a beauty technically and artistically. Love the light and the pine-cone perch. It will be a couple of months before they arrive here. (Good thing I have a couple of months to figure out how to even approximate this standard.....Gary thinking aloud.

)

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on March 15, 2010 at 9:40 PM

It's been said, but I'll add my congrats on a very fine image. Great like and the flow of the entire image is really great. Love the tones in this image.

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Sorochan on March 15, 2010 at 10:28 PM

Very nice. Can't wait until these guys get up to Southern Alberta. Will be putting up a nesting box up at my cabin in the Crowsnest Pass next weekend.

Registered on March 2, 2010, 30 Posts, 54 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Walters on March 15, 2010 at 10:29 PM

Very clean image. I like the light and the details. Very sharp.

Registered on October 30, 2005, 405 Posts, 3693 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on March 15, 2010 at 11:14 PM

nothing to add to what's already been said. this is outstanding. wonderful light, pose, perch, bg, detail--this really is wonderful.

Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments

Comment posted by Simon Bennett on March 16, 2010 at 3:01 AM

Excellent!!

Registered on February 4, 2007, 350 Posts, 4614 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on March 16, 2010 at 6:44 AM

Beautiful image quality and light Dan

cheers
Rob

Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments

Comment posted by Daniel & Loana on March 16, 2010 at 5:00 PM

Great!

Congrats

D&L

Registered on October 7, 2008, 166 Posts, 3044 Comments

Comment posted by wade pettitt on March 16, 2010 at 6:38 PM

Beautiful subject and background , well done Dan.

Registered on May 6, 2009, 184 Posts, 471 Comments

Comment posted by Danny Mustar on March 16, 2010 at 6:44 PM

Great detail,colors and composition. I can not see how you could do better.
Great capture!

Dan

Registered on January 1, 2010, 13 Posts, 24 Comments

Comment posted by Graham Brown on March 17, 2010 at 5:24 AM

Everything looks spot on here Dan. Attractive perch, lovely lighting, beautiful bird with head turn and lovely colour palette. Exposure and sharpness looks great - I guess this is what we all aim for in our images. Graham

Registered on November 20, 2007, 275 Posts, 1365 Comments

Comment posted by Neal Cooper on March 17, 2010 at 3:19 PM

Great job here Dan. Love the sharpness and the perch. Beautifully done.

Registered on June 3, 2009, 144 Posts, 306 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on March 17, 2010 at 9:29 PM

Lovely light, setting, comp and bird. The colors are beautiful too.

Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments