Female Cardinal

I have been absent for a while. This is my first post of 2013. D700, 300 f2.8, 1.4 tc, tripod. 1/800, f7.1, ISO 640. Cloudy white balance. Cropped and adjusted vibrance in acr. Removed a seed from the beak and usm in cs3. I set up this perch and put seeds on a table below it. It felt real good making images of birds again.

Glad to see you posting/photographing again Jack.
Don't have much to critique here; this one checks all the boxes on my list.
Exquisite details, perfect pose, HA, bg and perch. Looking forward to more.

You really nailed this image, Jack. The exposure, details, pose, Bg and perch are all super. You could tone down the lighter portions of the perch to bring it up even another notch. I'd be very pleased with this one.

Nice perch and nice colourful background. The bird looks good, love the crest partly up and nice HA. Great work, Jack.

Very nice to see another terrific image, Jack.
Excellent light, perch and a bird I would love to see up close someday.
The muted colors are very attractive.
Looking forward to more.

Nice image to start off your 2013 postings, Jack. It's a beauty all the way around. Looking forward to more.

Absolutely wonderful image! Lots of WOW factor on this one. Excellent throughout!

Wonderful capture. My only nit is the tail is a little too close to the corner, but that's a personal preference.

Congrats :-)

Jack, this is a superb portrait. I can't imagine ever getting anything this good of a female cardinal, I would be ecstatic. Brilliant work. Can't think of anything I would improve on or change. Welcome back and I look forward to more.

Wow. Had to look at it a few times. Beautiful!! Very well done on all accounts.

Magnificent image of beautiful lady cardinal.Love the colors,exposure,details,pose with open beak and crest.
Nice diagonal perch, BG and composition.

Regards,
Satish.

Hi Jack, there really isnt much to say about this except for the fantastic IQ, light and detail, and you have pretty much nailed everything on this lady. Did I mention how much I like the perch and BG too. Congrats on a fine image.

Certainly a huge colour difference between the male and female of this species.

Thank you all for your responses. Marina mentioned the perch was too bright and I knew I was going to get busted for that- too lazy to fix it before I posted.

Jack - exquisite detail and colors. A beautiful image.

TFS,
Rachel

Perfect image . . .

Gorgeous image Jack, exceptional fine detail and perfectly composed in the frame....about as good as they can be