Nice image, but you asked for comments so here goes. To me the head is not quite sharp but the body of the bird is. Conclusion, 1/800 was not quite fast enough to freeze the apparent movement of the head. I don't like the fact that there is a shadow across the birds face and therefore no reflection of the sun in the bird's eye. That all has to do with the fact that the sun is not behind you hence the shadow across the face. IMO, general practice in bird photography is to have yourself located in a position where the sun is behind you and, usually, somewhere between your left and right shoulders. The fact that the stump is partially in shadow confirms the fact that your sun angle is not ideal. Also, IMO, the bird is somewhat tight in the frame. I like a bit more room for the bird to move around in. I do like the background!

So, you asked for comments. Those are my thoughts.

Thanks Nalu, and I do appreciate comments, critique, whatever enters one's mind when they view the posted image.
As for your thoughts. Perhaps the head is not razor sharp, but the 1/800 shutter at 200mm was probably not to blame. More likely it was my fault in holding steady rather than shutter selection. There is a shadow across the bird's face and no reflection of the sun in the eye. I considered lightening the shadow in PP and may someday decide to do so. When shooting wildlife it is not always possible, depending on field conditions, to position yourself for optimum sun direction, and rarely will wildlife hold still for long. In this case, behind the cardinal were thick brambles and bushes which would have not made it feasible to shoot this particular shot from that direction.
The subject is tight in the frame as you state, but I do tend to prefer close shots, especially in nature, unless I wish to show more of the environment.

Appreciate you being open to comments. We all continue to go thru the learning curve and I believe honest constructive criticism is always helpful, at least to me. The reason I suggested shutter speed accounting for the softness in the head was my opinion the rest of the bird was relatively sharp. If it were unsteady hands, I suspect the whole bird would have been soft. As far as lighting and sun angle, those are goals. I agree it is many times not possible to get the best conditions, but one should be looking for them. I was in Bosque a few days ago and while trying to photograph snow geese, due to the conditions, there was no way I was going to get at the perfect sun position. Sometimes you just need to deal with the cards you get and play the hand, at least until you have to fold. Here is an example of not being in the optimum sun position.

The only thing to do, keep trying. Good luck.


I appreciate your detailed comments and please feel free to further discuss your views on this, or any image I post.