Snowbird (Female Cardinal)

[Jerry amEnde]

Canon 1DX; 400mm F/5.6L
F/7.1, 1/640, ISO 640

Shot shortly after last week's snow, on a tripod, thru my window to the rear deck.
LR5: Cropping, tone adjustments, Clarity +64, Vibrance +38, Saturation -14 (it was still pretty gray & cloudy). Of course the main processing effect white vignetting.

Thoughts?

...Jerry

[vishaljadhav]

Looks impressive, up close
IQ looks fantastic,
i may need a bit more at the bottom
nice one overall

[keith mitchell]

Hi jerry, the bird looks nearly perfect to me ,love the fluffed up pose, think I might darken the perch to give it more body and add a little more at the bottom if you have it, very nice image.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Lovely lady cardinal!! I love the fluffed up pose, nice perch and white BG. Details and exposure spot-on. If you have more room below that would be awesome, as well as more above for a vertical presentation. Was this photographed through the closed window? If so the clarity looks very good...and your window is very clean :-)

[Diane Miller]

Gorgeous detail and exposure, and the white BG is just lovely!

[Jerry amEnde]

Okay, thanks so much for the compliments & suggestions. See if the this new image is better. In order to darken the perch, I had to redo the vignetting with the LR Radial Filter, so the BG came out slightly different as well.

@Daniel. Yes, the window was closed. It's nice, flat plate glass and I find that I don't lose too much IQ if 1) The glass is clean, 2) I shoot straight thru the window (i.e. not at an angle), & 3) Keep the lens close to the glass.

...Jerry

[Satish Ranadive]

Spectacular image. Beautiful fine sharpness in feathers.Very nice pose with nice crest.

Regards,
Satish.

[keith mitchell]

Must say I do like the repost with the added detail to the perch and the birds tail.