Rose Breasted Grosbeak

[Melissa Groo]

Canon 7D
500mm f/4 + 1.4
Gitzo 3530LS/full Wimberley head.

1/80 sec
f/8.0
ISO 640

Took this yesterday through an open door onto my deck, he was perched near the feeder. It had just rained and the light was soft and made the colors rich. I wish the perch was not partly OOF. And wonder if others think the angle of the stem is ok. I kind of like the way it counterbalances the angle of the bird--plus, it is this angled in real life. And if I straighten it then I don't like the amount of crop. This is full frame.
Did a bit of cloning on tip of tail so that leaf was not obscuring it. Slight contrast, some NR, sharpening.
Thanks so much for any comments and critiques. I hope you enjoy it!

[Arthur Morris]

Nice setting an head angle with a good EXP. The crop eliminated the ugly leaf llc and tightened up the COMP. Cleaned up the face a bit and added some BLACK to the blacks and neutrals.

[Sachin Saraf]

Nice capture Melissa...TFS

Artie, re post looks wonderful...

[Melissa Groo]

Thanks Sachin! And thanks Artie too for your comments and repost, that is a big improvement.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Overall nive Melissa. I like the wet, rainy feel and the rich colours. I also like the leaf stem wrapping around the perch. Artie's repost does the image justice. I could do without the leaves poking in at right (or at least tone them down).

Awesome BG!

[Grady Weed]

Most points well covered. Good work. Is this a perch you set up to capture images? If so, do some house cleaning of those pesky leaves on the right. :w3

[Arthur Morris]

You are most welcome :)

[Chris Kotze]

Super pose and colours that well exposed. Artie post looks great:S3:

[Dumay de Boulle]

Very nice, detail looks good and the exp on the red chest looks good. Great BG and like the lines of the perch.

[Melissa Groo]

Thanks all.
Grady, this is not a perch I set up, haven't done any of that in my yard yet but am starting to think about it. Thanks for the tip.

[Chad Caswell]

Melissa, great looking colors, nice pose, I agree about the leafs on the right (dim them some). I have one of these that frequents my feeder, only problem he never land on my home made perch. Maybe some day :t3

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Melissa, loved the colors, pose and the BG. soft light is perfect for this.

One thing I wish was different is the reflection (of door?) in the eye.

[Sachin Saraf]

One thing I wish was different is the reflection (of door?) in the eye.

What a keen observation...I really like the way you look at the image KD :S3:
We are really lucky to have you around to help us improve...

[Melissa Groo]

nice catch indeed Kaustubh! What would you suggest I do then? try to somehow reduce it, say by 50% or so?

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

nice catch indeed Kaustubh! What would you suggest I do then? try to somehow reduce it, say by 50% or so?

If you work on the large file, you should be able to do some eye-doctoring and reduce it, change its shape. I am not an expert on that :-) So I'll let the others chime in.

[Aidan Briggs]

Nice job with the soft light and rich colors. The perch is decent for one that was not set up. Re-post is a nice improvement. Also might want to tone down the reds a bit, they are a little blown n the original.

Keep them coming!

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Melissa, I really like the lines created by the stems and the pose of the bird. Art has done the image great in the repost IMO. I feel the image has too much NR on it creating a very smooth look to the bird.