Evening Grosbeak Eating Maple Seed Pods.

[Daniel Cadieux]

There has been a single Evening Grosbeak this year, a female, and I've photographed it on a few occasions this winter as it reliably frequents a feeder...a feeder that no other bird photographer thinks of visiting so I have her to myself lol! On this occasion it stopped on a bare maple branch and began picking and eating the dry seed pods. It was pretty neat to observe and photograph it in a more "natural" behaviour.

Canon R6 + 500mm f/4 II + 1.4TC III, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/400s., f/5.6, ISO 3200, natural light, handheld, FF, a few imperfections in the BG taken care of in post (clone, spot removal), and usual eye work.

[Dorian Anderson]

She's super sharp and looks good in the grayscale/flat surrounds. All the other techs look great, so that's good. My only issue is the protruding branch in the foreground. It does contribute the seeds and complete the feeding story, but it does distract from the bird a bit, especially the closest/OOF bit. On the the hand, this is a 100% natural capture and not a set-up of any sort. So, I'm kinda flip-flopping on it.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Daniel ... the best thing to have the subjects on your own , at least IMHO.

Another fine shot and i like the clean wintery feel , nicely processed and fine details rendered .
I rather like the overall setting , incl the food source adding to the scene ....:w3 ... tastes are different . At least the story told is way more interesting , as this is NOT just another " nice clean manicured portrait ".

So thumbs from my side on all counts .

TFS Andreas

[Sharif Uddin]

I love the soft colors and the overall ambience of the image. Lots of details considering ISO 3200. The stick holding the seeds doesn't bother me much as it does set up the bird's actions.