Peanut Delight

A block of Peanut Delight in the suet feeder resulted in a regular supply of sparrows, starlings and woodpeckers.  The natural light was good.  A bright sun backlit the outstretched wings as birds waited for an open space in the feeder.

 I used a 400mm lens on a Canon 5D Mark II.  My ISO was 640.  The shutter speed 1/2500 and aperture was f5.6.  Winter trees are in the background of these photos.  .

I scored this image - 6

10 Point Bird Photo Scoring Checklist	Point	Comment
Is there adequate detail.  Noise? Focus? Is the body sharp?	1/2	The image could be sharper.  The feathers lack detail.
Is the exposure good? Has motion been arrested?  Are the wings sharp	1	Motion mostly stopped
Does lighting enhance the image?	1	The wings are back-lit.
Is the bird in an interesting pose? Are the wings spread?	1	Yes
Did I make good use of the frame? Is the frame free of distractions?	1/2	The suet block on the right is distracting.   The sparrow head in in the middle of the frame - very close to the top.
Does color enhance the image?
Does the background contribute to the image?  Color?  Depth?	1/2	The background adds color to the image without being distracting.
Is this bird a good subject?  Young and beautiful?  Ugly, ragged and missing feathers?  In mating plumage - sexy?	1/2	The sparrow looks strong and healthy.
Does the bird look alive and engaged?  Eye sharp? Catchlight?	1/2	The eye is pretty sharp but it lacks a good catchlight.
Is the bird doing something interesting?  Is it interacting with a mate, offspring, friends, enemies or the environment?	1/2	The flying sparrow is about to land.

 

 

 
 

It's hard to get a good shot of a bird flying directly toward the camera.  

I moved the feeder three times during this session.  I was trying to put it in a place that is on the same plane as the perch that the bird left before arrival.  I had some success.  What I really need is a perch that is a couple of yards from the feeder and several feet higher.  If I can get a bird to fly along this specific path, I will keep the bird the same distance away from the have a better change to have the bird in focus when I take the photo.