Male Cardinal

[jack williamson]

The male cardinals are starting to get their breeding red. Nikon D800, 300 f2.8, tripod, sb900 flash. 1/250, f7.1, iso 640, flash set to 1/16 power. I realized I had the same crop tool in acr (just had to click overlay) so I cropped and +.35 exposure in acr. USM in cs6. This is a setup.

[dankearl]

Jack, another excellent photo.
I envy those who have Cardinals around as I have never lived where they are and have only seen a few while traveling.
You need to do an e-book tutorial on set ups.
What is your BG for these?
You found a cool perch to set off the color of the bird.
I might take a bit off the top.
A photoshop of the female from the other day with this one would be pretty cool.

[jack williamson]

Thanks Dan for the kind words. The BG is oak leaves on the ground. The ground rises up slightly behind this setup so I only get the ground and nothing else.

[Karl Egressy]

Nice setup and a very nice shot of the male. I little more head turn would have been better but I like the crest up.

[Satish Ranadive]

Wonderful image with magical colors on cardinal.
Love the pose with lovely crest,colors,details,perch with green moss and BG.
Slight crop on the top would not hurt this beautiful image.

Regards,
Satish.

[christopher galeski]

very nice,sharp with good details,nice BG and perch.

[Frank Schauf]

Beautiful portrait, great details and eye contact.

[David Salem]

Another beautiful Cardinal shot. Your setup is producing some nice stuff. Love everything except might take some off the top. Nice!

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Handsome bird and great job with the flash, Jack.
Your perch is nice and the bg complements the bird nicely. Love the raised crest.
Agree with David with taking some off the top. Very nice.

[vishaljadhav]

This is one bird i am totally in love with, never seen it in real life only in pictures however if i visit US anytime this will be the priority 1 on my card.
The bird is beautifully captured here, the raised crest is so nice, perch is wonderful, i may also be tempted to take a bit off the top
lovely bird

[Dennis Zaebst]

Beautiful sharpness and IQ, plus terrific color without over-saturating the reds (which I have done in the past). I love the perch with its complementary colors. Unlike others here, I have as many as ten males at a time in my back yard. Maybe I don't appreciate them as much as I should? TFS.