Purple Finch

[Beth Goffe]

The background is a bit busy here but I was happy to get this last September. The NY area had experienced an influx of purple finches which we normally don't see and there were a lot of photographers and bird watchers looking for them. I removed a thin branch from directly behind the bird that ran from top to bottom of the frame. Any suggestions for improvement are most appreciated.

http://www.pbase.com/bgoffe/image/102329946/original.jpg

20D, 100-400 IS @ 400mm, 1/80s, f/5.6, EC 0, ISO 800

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

I agree Beth about your own comments on the BG but love the pose on this little finch and the good eye contact. I would be tempted IMO to crop this a little more since the environment is not adding anything to the image. The head area on my monitor looks a little soft and perhaps selective sharping would help this, Many thanks for sharing and I hope you see many more in your area < smile >

[Rob Palmer]

I agree with Judy. A bit tighter crop to get rid of that background. You could also selectively blur the background with gaussian blur.

[Beth Goffe]

Thanks very much, Judy and Rob! It was a pretty heavy crop to begin with but I'll surely give your suggestions a try.