Western Lesser Goldfinch

[Tom Callahan]

Captured this Gold finch in the am waiting her turn at the feeder. In the BG an out of focus goldfinch is leaving the feeder. Tell me what you think about this compostion and anything else. Canon 40D, ISO 400, Canon 400mm 5.6 lens, F/8, 1/100sec, Aperture Priority, evaluative metering, auto white balance, on tripod.

[Glenn Bartley]

To be honest I'm not a fan of this image at all. The whole thing looks very unnatural to me. Even the choice of perch is questionable. The BG is looking really fake and the main subject is overflashed. Sorry.....but this one doesnt work for me.

I'd try a more natural looking and more neutral colored perch. If this is a fake BG (and I'm pretty sure it is) then I'd either use a natural one or get something again more neutral and natural looking. Ditch the foliage running through the frame.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the idea and composition but the perch looks as if it is out of place. The details look good. I wish for a bit more head turn. What are the colors in the BG?

[Arsdel Fluesmeier]

The imagbe of the bird and the composition I like but the background is not good.I would crop and eliminate the bkgnd.

[Tom Callahan]

Thanks for the feedback. The background is a painters drop cloth painted with pastels that use mainly for capturing hummingbirds. Thought I would try it with a perched Goldfinch. Overflashed? I don't think I used flash on this photo, unless you mean something else? Your comments make sense. The perch is too light and the tree branch at the bottom is distracting. And the background does not look natural.