Look before you leap

[pdaley221]

Hey this is my first post!
I took this picture while in Manhattan over winter break. Its a little bird about to jump off a ledge. I am open to all critiques for this picture.


Heres the EXIF data: http://www.flickr.com/photo_exif.gne?id=2157432986

Edit: I just found an even better picture than the one above! THe bird is looking right at me! I dont even remember taking this picture.

[clockdoc]

Hi and welcome to the group. I think you had a good idea in mind when you took this shot. Our brain tends to help us isolate the clutter from the beauty and in this case you probably say the bird and not the busy background. The wide tonal range is very difficult to meter properly without 'tricking' the camera into what you are concentrating on. Perhaps a spot reading or simply bracketing would have produced a better exposure for the bird as well as a higher angle to place the bird against a lighter background. I see you shoot in the 'Sports' mode which favors higher shutter speeds. At f/5.6, this may have been you widest aperture on the lens you were using but it still was not open enough to through the background more out of focus. You have a good eye. Keep shooting. I look forward to seeing more of your work here.

[geotography]

I enjoy your photo...it definitely made me smile. Clockdoc has good tips. For fun, try cropping 40% +- off of the left to a little bit behind the bird's tail feather. This may bring forward a relationship between the bird and the oncoming vehicle. I would like to see a slightly bigger bird with a bit more light on its feathers...understandably you were busy trying to capture moment. You have a really nice photograph here and I look forward to seeing more of your work. Thank you.