My little chickadee—spotted yesterday afternoon in the cattails at Huntley Meadows Park. In our area, most of the chickadees are Carolina Chickadees (Poecile carolinensis), but we do get some Black-capped Chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) too. The species are so similar that I am never completely sure which one I am looking at. This one, for example, looks like some of the images that I see of the Black-capped Chickadee.
When it came to presenting this image, I was a little bothered by the large amount of negative space on the left side. However, I really like the way that the image emphasizes the tallness of the cattail. The more I looked at the image, the more I grew to like the composition, so I ended up not cropping it at all.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
We see the black capped variety up here, but I haven’t seen one fr a while. I like this photo a lot, Mike.
Pssst – Mike, you’re the Mike mentioned in my post here: https://babsjeheron.wordpress.com/2017/02/14/beautiful-great-blue-heron-love-for-valentines-day/ Best, Babsje
Thanks for the mention. I love Great Blue Herons and especially that they stay with us all winter, unlike many other species that depart for warmer locations.
You’re welcome, Mike. Here, some stay all winter, some do not – though I think they don’t migrate much farther than the Atlantic coast. You seem to see more Herons there in the winter than we do here, so you’re lucky. Best, Babsje
Such a sweet little bird. Your portrait is wonderful.
Thanks, Laura. “Sweet” is the perfect adjective for this beautiful little bird.
You are right, Mike; the composition is perfect as it is, slightly off-center.
When I was a child in New Jersey, i had an unforgettable encounter with a black-capped chickadee that perched on my hand for a long few minutes! I’ve always had a soft spot for them since then!
Thanks. What a wonderful memory of an encounter with a chickadee.
Very nice portrait Mike. Glad you did not crop it.
Thanks, Chris. My normal instinct is to get close and fill the frame or crop when that was not possible. In this case, I went against that impulse and went for the more artistic choice.
Wow, what a great shot, very striking. Chickadees are probably one of my favorite birds to see. I love the texture the cottontail provides in the photo. Out of curiosity, what camera/lens did you use for this shot?
Thanks, Allen. I was shooting with a Canon 50D DSLR and a Tamron 150-600mm lens. I like the combination a lot, though I will probably upgrading the camera soon–it is getting a little long in the tooth.
Wow, that’s a nice lens! Wish I could afford something like that, but right now it’s way out of my price range. Right now, I just have a nikon 55-300mm. Thinking about saving up for a Tamron 70-200mm. It’d be a much faster lens.
Thanks.With the kind wildlife shooting that I like to do, gear is actually less important than you might think. Being there and being ready is much more important (and being lucky). I have gotten some of my best shots with my Canon 55-250mm and 70-300mm lenses, which were my go-to lenses before I got the Tamron, which I really like.
Yeah, definitely! I’ve spent many hours in a homemade blind and have gotten a lot of great images that way. It takes patience, but it’s very rewarding. I just wish I had something a little faster when shooting without a tripod
Me too! At times I think that I would really love to have a Canon 500mm f/4 lens, but am not sure that I could justify spending that amount of money on a lens. For now I am content to shoot as much as I can to help me get the most out of the gear that I have–it sounds like your approach is quite similar. Best wishes and happy hunting (with your camera).
You too!