American Goldfinch

[Ryan Schain]

American Goldfinch in its winter plumage

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4045/4326261681_6f46c3fc19_o.jpg

Canon EOS 7D
Canon EF 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 L IS

1/640
f/6.3
400 mm
ISO 400
+1 EV

[Fabs Forns]

Nice peaceful feel to this one. Perfect HA and I may have placed him lower in the frame, perch not too bad either.
I like the soft tones of the BG too, thanks for sharing it with us.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Good pose and perch. I'd like to see him a little bigger in the frame, and cropped differently (as per Fabs's suggestion - but higher in the frame would work too, just not centered as is). A slight boost in saturation could liven things up. All around a good clean image.

[Phil Ertel]

Hi Ryan, Nice image! I agree with the positives above (good pose and perch with a nice mode). I hope you do not mind but I thought I would have a go at some of the suggestions above.
1. I cropped to move the bird lower in frame and slightly left in frame (to move more away from center). Hopefully not too much.
2. I used a curves layer and lighted the bird and increased the contrast a bit and then added a mask so this only effected the bird.
3. I thought the perch was a little bright so I duplicated the original layer and changed the mode to multiply; added a mask so the multiply effect only shows on the perch.
4. I selected the eye with a quick mask and created a layer with just the eye and lightened with a curves adjustment.

I like the changes but it is up to you if you think they helped. Thanks for sharing.