Backyard Birds - December 2012

 I used my 10 point system on this starling sitting in the snow. It's clearly not a Bird in Flight, but the checklist still worked.  It scored a 5.

10 Point BIF Scoring Checklist	Point	Comment
Is there adequate detail.  Noise? Focus? Is the body sharp?	1
Is the exposure good? Has motion been arrested?  Are the wings sharp	1
Does lighting enhance the image?
Is the bird in an interesting pose? Are the wings spread?
Did I make good use of the frame? Is the frame free of distractions?
Does color enhance the image?
Does the background contribute to the image?  Color?  Depth?	1	Snow.  Contrast provides depth
Is this bird a good subject?  Young and beautiful?  Ugly, ragged and missing feathers?  In mating plumage - sexy?	1	Feathers have light tips
Does the bird look alive and engaged?  Eye sharp? Catchlight?		Catchlight missing.  Eye is hard to see
Is the bird doing something interesting?  Is it interacting with a mate, offspring, friends, enemies or the environment?	1	Sitting in the snow

After scoring the photo, I studied the areas that didn't receive points.  I decided to try to use cropping to make better use of the frame.

I re-scored the image.  I feel that it makes better use of the frame now - most of the clutter is gone.  To my surprise, this crop makes the catch-light in the eye more visible and the Starling appears to be looking at me.  I scored it at 1/2 point for this improvement.  My final score is now 6 1/2.

10 Point BIF Scoring Checklist	Point	Comment
Is there adequate detail.  Noise? Focus? Is the body sharp?	1
Is the exposure good? Has motion been arrested?  Are the wings sharp	1
Does lighting enhance the image?
Is the bird in an interesting pose? Are the wings spread?
Did I make good use of the frame? Is the frame free of distractions?	1
Does color enhance the image?
Does the background contribute to the image?  Color?  Depth?	1	Snow.  Contrast provides depth
Is this bird a good subject?  Young and beautiful?  Ugly, ragged and missing feathers?  In mating plumage - sexy?	1	Feathers have light tips
Does the bird look alive and engaged?  Eye sharp? Catchlight?	1/2	Weak catchlight
Is the bird doing something interesting?  Is it interacting with a mate, offspring, friends, enemies or the environment?	1	Sitting in the snow