Almost there.....

I'm glad to hear that someone else has a muse, Roger. Very glad.

I'm neither kind nor an expert. That has never stopped me from commenting, however.

Regarding your composition, everything else aside, I think it is one of the best uses of negative space I've ever seen. The reason is that because in the West, we tend to read and see things from left to right, when we see this starling (and starlings are very intelligent, though not very pretty) trying to land, our minds automatically use that negative space on the left and imagine that as the flight path. So it becomes very much part of the image our minds create.

In my view, photographically, from a conceptual point of view, nothing exept the bird and its vector is important; it doesn't matter what the sky looks like in its past or what the tip of the tree looks like; this is about the bird at this moment, and you have a great, sharp capture there.

Stanislovsky said that the questions all actors must ask themselves and understand are; 1 where have I come from, 2 who am I now, and 3 where am I going. And I would say your subject deserves an Oscar for this performance.

The comp got my attention and in context with your story it works IMO.

In context, this works nicely. The rules of composition are only rules, and you should never be afraid to break them if you think it suits the subject, as it does here. Well done also on bringing all that feather detail out against a pale grey sky, not an easy thing to do with a black bird.

David

I think everyone pretty much nailed it!!! Sometimes, less is more!
HollyMorris

Outside the box Roger, well done.
Pictures are like Jokes in one respect however, If you have to explain them they aren't that good.
Happy New Year . . .

Thank you all for your comments. Much appreciated.

sweet light on the bird, Roger. I think that even in the context of what you're after here, a little more room on the right would be helpful.