The Gatekeeper

We were camped at the Elk Meadows campground at Prairie Creek Redwoods in California and this heavy gate blocked an old road to limit it to bicycles and pedestrians. One morning this Black Phoebe decided to use the gate post as a perch and I couldn’t resist it.

Specific Feedback Requested

The bird seems to be looking out of the frame, but with the massive gate, this crop seemed to work best-Comments?

Technical Details

Sony A1, FE 200-600 + 1.4 TC @ 840 mm, hand held, f/9, 1/2500, iso 5000 manual exposure. Processed in LR & PS CC. Cropped to 5337x4920. Taken at 9:51 AM on October 9th.

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Makes the bird seem extra small even though they’re really not. They do like the free standing perch quite a bit. Lately their relatives, Eastern Kingbirds, have been using my dock poles for the same purpose. Unfortunately they leave some messy evidence behind.

Insofar as including the perch goes, I’m not sure I’d have left so much of it in this scene if I wanted to showcase the bird. As bird versus gatepost goes it works, but is it really about the post?