Chickadee-dee-dee
by stargazer05766

Comment:
Sweet shot! it is an ordinary chickadee but an extraordinary shot. Gotta love the clarity of this and the perfect control of focus.

Flying to stay still
by Paul

Comment:
Very cool stuff! I love the crazy cool DOF you were able to capture to hightlight the birds face and soften the wings. Congrats on the Blue.

White-breasted Nuthatch
by glad2badad

Comment:
Fantastic job - this is just about perfect - especially the pose these little guys do.

No Laughing Matter....
by BarbB

Comment:
Great shot - love the details and strong bright colors. These birds are just too cool.

But I feel that a golf course is not a wild environment (except when Tiger Woods is around chasing young women) so therefore it gets a DNMC!

Juvenile White-tailed Kite
by aliqui

Comment:
This is just splendid. Wonderful work. I love how you composed this so that the environment is an integral and important component of the shot. The gaze of the bird is magical.

Fly Me to the Moon
by OmanOtter

Comment:
Wonderfully composed and delivered image. I think it is outstanding and can testify to the difficulty of getting a shot like this. The title is 'on the money' and this so fit the challenge perfectly.

That said, I agree with Jason's comments about the details on the bird - I think people were 'wowed' by the details that some were able to capture. I think you may have also overdid a bit of your processing as I see a bit of halo around the bird as well.

It is important to remember (and I always have to remind myself as well!) that it is not about the difficulty of the shot, but on what is delivered. An analogy that I like to think about is that I don't want to watch a musician play something that sounds like it is difficult to play, but rather I want to watch a musician play something effortlessly (even if the piece is difficult).

Overall, I think those that stopped by long enough to ponder realized what a solid shot it was (6.9 from commenters).

Max 1
by Paul

Comment:
Lovely - I quite like this image as well....The processing to B/W is perfection and the lighting really show the simple shapes and textures throughout

Jan 01 2010
by JaimeVinas

Comment:
I like the intensity of the colors and the smile and the placement of the umbrella to drive our eyes to her face (but it really doesn't need any help!). Well done.

2009.10.10 Ashley
by Nusbaum

Comment:
Fantastic work - you could use this as a lesson on how to do it 'right' - well done to deliver it simply and directly.

Em in the hallway
by sadiebird

Comment:
i really like this one a lot - the focus on the eye really makes it for me