Red Crested Cardinal

[dankearl]

Went to Kauai, Hawaii to find some new birds to photograph (someone has to do it..),
This is a very common backyard bird there, striking to me, an import from South America.
Not related to the Cardinal, a member of the Tanager family.
Not the greatest IQ with this travel lens combo, but easy to travel with.

1/640, iso800, f6.3, 380mm (70-200 w/ 2x), D800, HH


DSC_9655bp.jpg (http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=134302&stc=1&d=1383549768)

[Mike Veltri]

What a striking bird, well done Dan.

[Jonathan Ashton]

I like the bird, the position and the pose and exposure. Possibly it could stand a little more sharpening? I would be tempted to homogenise the background where I presume there is a similar but OOF bird.

[Vivaldo Damilano]

Striking bird, really like it red head and eye. Low angle works very nicely. I would remove OOF bird on the RHS. Nicely done Dan.

[Doug Brown]

Like the sharpness and the pose. A slightly higher vantage point would have eliminated the vertical element in the BG. I might brighten up the image a little.

[David Salem]

I knew from the thumbnail that you went to Hawaii. We go to Maui every year and there are many on the Island. You must have seen the grass finch also.
The shot looks great and the detail looks good to me. I agree with blending the BG to remove the oof bird. Nice work.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Dan, what a great looking bird, love the mix of the red head and grey body. Great HA, sharp, and your low shooting angle has turned out nicely.

I thought Hawaii was only for surfing:w3

[Dan Busby]

Hi Dan. This looks like what is known as the Red-"capped" Cardinal. I had several goes at the species in Ecuador and couldn't bring the reds under control (might have to go back fro another chance!). But you managed the reds well. I would add a bit more on the left so it doesn't look like the tail runs off the edge. Great head angle and background. As for the other bird ...... your prerogative.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Perfect head angle and the reds are so beautiful and vivid. Low angle works well with the stubby grass. I'd have preferred the oof bird be more in profile.

"someone has to do it"...yep, must have been a tough assignment!:t3

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the pose, sharpness, red cap, details and exposure. Nice image Dan!

[Satish Ranadive]

Spectacular image. Beautiful bird with very nice colors. Nice details and low shooting angle.

Regards,
Satish.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

The IQ looks more than fine to me, Dan. Lovely red head, nice light and shooting angle. The oof bird doesn't bug me much. The oof vertical white stuff, whether it's natural or not, does distract imo.
Surprised that nobody mentioned it, but it appears the tail is touching the left edge of the frame. I'd give it a bit more room. TFS.

[Michael F Milligan]

Great IQ, I like the OOF bird, a kind of abstract reflection / context, but I like that kind of thing. Does no harm when the subject is so well captured IMHO.