Robin and another - 3 shots

[Overread]

These are 2 shots I managed to get, though the light was starting to fade so I used my flash to try and make up for that. He was not too far from me in these shots so I think they should have been able to come out a little sharper, but the light might be lacking a little for me here.
Shot with:
Canon 400D and sigma 70-300mm DG f4-5.6 macro and tripod

at: f5.6, ISO 800, 1/60 sec
link to larger: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3370/3235354940_f29ba67156_o.jpg

at: f5.6, ISO 800, 1/60sec with flash
link to larger: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3376/3234505113_8c37ac9b7d_o.jpg

and its not a robin - was a lot further off, but the better light has let him come out well (100% crop then resized slightly for this one - others are resized full shots)

at: f18, ISO200, 1/60sec
ps this also shot in shutter priority mode rather than ap mode
link to larger: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3516/3234505511_5027dac928_o.jpg

Any comments for how to improve welcome - thanks

 

[tirediron]

Nice captures! Not much to improve them really; for #2, I would darken just a tad and crop a little more closely around the bird to eliminate the visual distractions of the out-of-focus area to the right and the boards, for #3, just a slight crop to get rid of some of the excess sky.

 

[Michaelaw]

I like the first shot of the Robin best and really like the light. I remember these birds from my childhood. I live in Canada now and our robins are huge like six inches high. I think I understand why you went for the flash in the second one but in my opinion it was not needed as you nailed the fist shot well.

 

[rein]

loving the first one as well. great shot

 

[Overread]

Thanks for the compliments - its good to hear that I (and a little RAW editing) got the first shot right without the flash. It was a tricky time and I have not shot much in the evenings - especially at something moving so I whilst I tried without flash on the camera it looked worse than on sceen - much darker.
However one query, when I shot this I did not use any flash exposure compensation and I can clearly see that the flash was rather more than overkill at this close range - would it be better to use the exposure compensation (to something like -1) when using flash as a standard setting?

 

[IndieMe]

That second photo is perfect! :thumbup:

It has this soft effect and that's what makes it so beautiful to look at.

 

[Bifurcator]

I like #1 the best!, The light dynamics that are at play on the two sides of the wall as seen through the window, add story and direction to the image.