House Finch

[Diane Miller]

These guys have been in beautiful plumage for a while now, but are not coming to the feeder as much in the last couple of weeks. Maybe they're busy nesting?

Canon 5D Mk III, 300mm IS + 1.4X II, ISO 800, f/14, 1/160 sec. ME set for BG (distant trees in sun), but bird was in shade so flash (Canon 580) set to M and used as main light, about 30 degrees off-camera triggered by a MicroSync. (If flash is set to ETTL the pre-flash spooks many of the birds, so it's easier to do everything in M and tweak as the ambient light changes.

This is a perch I set up, that they sometimes use for staging when coming to a feeder. Need to work on "planting" some greenery in the scene.

[Diane Miller]

Now I see a bright thread (spider web?) off the tail. I'll fix it.

[Randy Stout]

Diane:

Handsome fellow, nice pose, BG.

Although the flash work is pretty subtle, I find the image just a bit washed out, and might try to tinker with the luminosity a bit. I tried a version pulling in the black point a bit, and liked that effect.

Yes, there might be slightly more photogenic perches out there!

Cheers

Randy

[Diane Miller]

Good point about the luminosity -- thanks. I've already re-worked the RAW file and I think it's better now. Also found a couple of sensor spots. Need to clean it today. (Never mind the house...)

[PhilCook]

Lacking a little contrast maybe, but overall very nice, lots of fine detail and HA is good, I rather like the perch myself and all sitting nicely against the clean bckdrop

[David Salem]

Nice shot. I like it allot. The finch is well lit and dosnt look to over flashed and there is allot of nice feather detail. Good looking pose and HA and the BG is great. A solid shot Diane.

[mohammad reza shahab]

very nice BG,pose and nice feather detail.

[jack williamson]

A very nice shot of this finch, maybe just a tad bright but nice and sharp with a good pose and BG. I had some of these birds here two winters ago but could never get a decent shot.

[Karl Egressy]

Nice flash work, Diane. I like the pose and background.

[dankearl]

Very nice perch, pose and BG, Diane.
Just a tad more contrast for me would look nice.
A very nice look at this common bird!