Mourning Dove

Gallery: AvianPosted June 28, 201083 views8 comments

Canon 7D, 500mm + 1.4x TC, monopod.

1/400, f/5.6, ISO 500

Crop to 73% (13.2 of 18MP)

Just a Mourning Dove, but nice light and an interesting bg. As much as I tend to overlook these, they are a fairly attractive bird, and an extremely wary subject, so I was glad to finally get a decent shot of one. I sort of like the branches on the left hand side, they have an interesting symmetry. I'm not as wild about the branches at right, which I toned down a little but did not want to clone out.

Comments and critiques are appreciated. Please view larger version if possible.

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by Mauro Pasquero on June 28, 2010 at 2:39 AM

I do share your comment, Brian.
Great light and wonderful BG!
Mauro

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

Comment posted by Michael Lotito on June 28, 2010 at 5:30 AM

Yes Brian I am also guilty of overlooking this beautiful subject. Great capture of this beautiful bird. Its funny how we never take advantage of the easier ons.

Registered on June 26, 2009, 181 Posts, 1558 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on June 28, 2010 at 7:59 AM

An interesting background Brian and nice job catching the bird in just the right spot on the perch between all those branches. I'm always interested in the variations of approachability of birds in different areas - for you they're "extremely wary" but around here I can sometimes approach them to within about 10' when they're at my feeder and I'm working in my yard.

Registered on March 30, 2007, 437 Posts, 10915 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on June 28, 2010 at 12:24 PM

These can be a fun bird to photograph in the right light. These birds are very approachable in the desert behind our place. I like the colorful background and the detail in the dove however for me I do find the branches on right side kind of distracting since there are more OOF branches on that side. Can't you get the bird to move to another branch?

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on June 28, 2010 at 7:12 PM

Very nice light on the Dove, Brian, but for me t, the bg really makes this image.

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

Comment posted by Bryan Hix on June 28, 2010 at 10:28 PM

Great angle to the camera, however I would much more prefer a less cluttered BG and the shadows across the body make this an "almost" photo. Keep trying, like Jim says they can be great subjects and will give you a lot more opportunities. In the perfect light they are quite an elegant bird.

Registered on June 13, 2008, 117 Posts, 755 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on June 28, 2010 at 10:32 PM

Beautiful portrait Brian!

Ken Archer

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

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on June 28, 2010 at 11:26 PM

The bg colors are really pretty here Brian, I do find some of the branches on the right a bit distracting but as you do I like the ones on the left.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments