Lois ... I think this is as good as it gets! Well done.

Why not a true vertical? Cut more off the left side. Rule of thirds is just a guide line, it doesn't have to be exact. Hold up a piece of paper to cover the left side and seed what you think, Lois. Then you really zero in on the bird.

I actually did have less on the left side but it looked too crowded. Actually, the eye of the bird is almost in the intersection of the top third quadrant, which is something I aim for. Thanks for your comments, Bruce.

oops-, and of course, Howard!

Look at it this way, Lois.... You have a vertical bird, a vertical tree and you make almost a square photo. I think it goes against nature.

I think it looks great!

To me the bird isn't vertical. The line from the tail to the head creates a diagonal that creates movement. I like it.

I like it, too. It's a great photo so remains robust in many variations. I also like the original horizontal version as well.

A simple reaction to what we see in the viewfinder will determine our format and help create well-composed images. Read the body language; vertical subjects are best viewed in the “portrait” format while horizontal subjects tend to look more natural in the “landscape” format. Birds are upright creatures. We view them top to bottom. Dogs and cats, horses and other four-legged creatures are viewed in the horizontal, left to right or vice versa. There are exceptions, but it doesn’t take much effort to rotate the camera 90 degrees to obtain another point-of-view and possibly a better image. If you get it right the first time, you’ll spend less time post-processing and more time taking pictures, and that’s really what it’s all about.