House Finch

[Isaac Grant]

Photographed in my friends backyard in Staten Island, NY. Feeder set up and the perch is the same pink tree that is in the background. I have been concentrating on trying to gett high quality shots of the common birds in my area. When I have a bunch of time to devote to photography then I go farther away for other birds, but when I only have a few hours at most I try and be productive with the common birds. It is easy to overlook House Finch but they are a beautiful bird that I rarely see good photos of.

Canon 1dx mark ii and Canon 500 f4 i and 1.4xiii. F5.6, ISO 800, SS 1/2000. Fill flash at -2

[John Mack]

Always like a great image of a common bird. The perch is great also like the background. Details look very good as well.

[dankearl]

Bird looks nice if a bit oversharp...
I would get rid of all the branches at the bottom of the frame.
It looks flashed.

[Paul Burdett]

Looks great to me. I really like BG and how the pink flowers compliment the similar colours in the bird. It does look a little over sharpened to me too.

[Isaac Grant]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Not sure what you are seeing on your monitor but on mine the sharpening looks fine. I believe what you are seeing is the result of highlights from the flash but I guess I can not be sure. This was sharpened with Smart Sharpen at 100 and .5 like all my other files are and notice that the leaves and branches were also sharpened the same but do not have the same reflective look as the feathers do. Also I love the branches at the bottom of the frame and think they balance the rest of the perch perfectly. Without them you just have the top of that floating unnaturally in the middle of nowhere. But I understand that tastes vary with that sort of thing.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hi Isaac, beautiful bird, everyday a couple come to our feeder. I like the image design with the lower branches, lovely background. I also think the bird appears over sharpened. Thank you for sharing.

[David Cowling]

The bird is very sharp which I think is a result of fill flash, but not oversharp IMO. I love the way the coloured leaves compliment the colouring of the bird. I'm ok with the lower branches as I like the way that the bird is surrounded by colour.

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

Beautiful Frame. Nice Head Turn.

I do see a vertical composition from this frame.

Looks sharp to me

THS

[annmpacheco]

Whoa, what a lovely image isaac, certainly sharp and gorgeous perch/colors. I like how the head turn is so engaging. Tops for sure.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Isaac, excellent IQ here, and you have captured a perfect angled pose. I do like the overall colour pallete throughout the image, and the sharpness looks spot on. The OOF colours in the distance BG are real sweet. I like how the leaves are spread evenly over the image, and if I had to nit pick - I wish you hadnt cut off the top leaf. :w3

[Alex Becker]

Lovely Isaac. Sweet BG, details, and perch. Sharpness looks good to me. TFS

[Isaac Grant]

Thanks everyone for the kind words and critiques. Stu I am with you 100% re the leaf. The shot is full frame and I was hoping the bird would perch a bit higher so I could include the leaf on top. When the bird posed there it was too good to pass up and it did not stay long enough for me to get a shot and then to take a few steps back to get the leaves on top. I literally got off 5 shots of the bird so at 14 FPS it was there for less than half a second of shooting and then was gone. Shooting set ups is much more difficult that it may seem on the surface.

[William Dickson]

The sharpness looks good to me...the only thing I would change is remove the smaller twigs from the bottom. Leave the one with the leaf and also the one with the dead leaves/flowers.

Will

[Bill Dix]

Handsome capture of one of our most common birds. I agree the slightly crisp look is a result of the flash.

[Arthur Morris]

Fabulous bird, photo, image design, and soft light. And the relatively centered subject works perfectly here.

with love, artie