Corpulent Cardinal

[Bill Dix]

D90; 80-400 VR @ 400mm. ISO 800. f/7.1 @ 1/250s. Matrix metering @ -0.7 EV. HH (braced on ledge inside a blind).

I think this fellow has been hanging around the Nature Center feeders for too long. I assume he's an old bird - at least he looks sort of weathered, and seems to have lost some pigmentation (do they do that as they age??) I might normally have cropped just a bit tighter, but here I liked the pine needle setting. C&C appreciated.

[Thanaboon Jearkjirm]

Nice eye contact, love the sharpness and the captured the feather details well. Agree about the pine needle, which show nice background. I don't mind the one on the left intersecting the bird's tail, but the one in the OOF one in the middle distracts the bird a bit. Nice job handholding too :)

[Harold Davis]

that is one fat cardinal!!!! wow!!!

two things stick out to me. there is a color cast. i cant figure what color it is. i thought blue at first, but after playing around with it, it could be slight magenta or even green. usually happens in shady situations. the other is the dark band that runs across the bg and intersects with his head. the needles crossing it's tail dont bother me as much as the other things because there is a very strong connection between the viewer and the bird. i'd have to say nicely done handholding too!!

[Bill Dix]

that is one fat cardinal!!!! wow!!!

two things stick out to me. there is a color cast. i cant figure what color it is. i thought blue at first, but after playing around with it, it could be slight magenta or even green. usually happens in shady situations. the other is the dark band that runs across the bg and intersects with his head. the needles crossing it's tail dont bother me as much as the other things because there is a very strong connection between the viewer and the bird. i'd have to say nicely done handholding too!!

Thanks Harold. I agree about the dark band - I thought of trying to alter it, but didn't know how to go about it. I noticed the color but figured it was the result of light filtering through the pine tree. Here's a repost where I just used the Auto Levels. Is this any better?

[Gail Spitler]

Hi Bill - Love the green/blue playing off against the red. I like the bird in the habitat.
Just as an aside, your fellow isn't fat. In fact, he is probably cold. Birds presenting in this way are often suffering from salmonella. Anyway, could be he's a pretty sick puppy.
Cheers
Gail

[Jim Michael]

I liked the color in the first version better. Looks like a slight cyan color cast, try adding about +20 red.

[Harold Davis]

i tried it in the tradition, set the black an d white point and it did not look right to me. only way i could make it right was to use pro contrast in nik. took care of the GREEN color cast and added about 10 points of contrast.

[Bill Dix]

i tried it in the tradition, set the black an d white point and it did not look right to me. only way i could make it right was to use pro contrast in nik. took care of the GREEN color cast and added about 10 points of contrast.

That color is definitely better, although the bird looks a bit too contrasty to me. I had also tried setting black/white points without much success. Thanks for the help.

[Bill Dix]

Hi Bill - Love the green/blue playing off against the red. I like the bird in the habitat.
Just as an aside, your fellow isn't fat. In fact, he is probably cold. Birds presenting in this way are often suffering from salmonella. Anyway, could be he's a pretty sick puppy.
Cheers
Gail

Gail, thanks for the comments and the info. I feel sorry I misrepresented the poor fellow.

[BillTyler]

The color rework is a real improvement. Nice job.

Bill

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Must have failed that colour test. The orig looks fine to me. Sometimes they puff up to keep warm. I like the habitat Bill, wonder about a small crop from the left.

[Lance Peters]

Hi Bill - repost looks good!! Love the puffed up look and the clear sharp eye.
:)

[Nicki Gwynn Jones]

Hi Bill,
Actually I like the original and the BG is lovely!
Best,
Nicki

[Peter Farrell]

I also like the original best. Nice habitat shot.
The black band didn't bother me until it was pointed out by Harold. Did you try burning it a little?
Peter