Raven....

[Wolfman131]

After about a week of the gloomiest darkness, the sun magically materialized, this shot was off my deck, a Raven.....Is the Raven too sharp, not sharp enough? Hows the background blur? All critical input is encouraged, thank you for looking it over....

Eos 7D, EF300 f/4L IS plus EF1.4x TC, f/5.6, 1/800th, ISO-200, EB-+0.7, WB-manual, 420mm/672mm fov....

[Wolfman131]

Wow, that bad! Of my last three images posted not a single response...Ouch....

[sstanton]

I like the shot, very crisp...I am caught between looking at the bird and the tree trunk though. Next time get the bird to be closer to the tree and more snow for the contrast

[Wolfman131]

Thanks, here's a different crop of the same image...I eliminated the trunk entirely, along with the snow. I find that any bird this dark, is quite a challenge to contrast. So I simplified it significantly, though I would have preferred the tree and the snow if it could have been managed...

Is the background to cluttered with color? How about the blur? Thanks again for your comments...

Same exif as above...

[SNApRebel]

I like the blur and the color in the background. Especially since the bird is black, it's good contrast.

[Wolfman131]

Thank you for your thoughts...I pick on ravens, and small nuthatches(dull blue & greyish white)because they are I think, good practice, due to their tough coloring.

[jc56]

The cropped version is much better. Good catch lght in the eye. Nice detail in the feathers. Background is a tad bright. Bird has a slight halo on the left and right. All in all a very nice photo. JMO