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Here, to complement my own image of a male from a few days ago (and now the excellent one just posted by Axel) is the more subtly colored female. Also in my yard the other day.
D300, Nikon 80-400, hand-held.
Shutter Speed (Exposure Time) = 1/400 second
Aperture = F7.1
Exposure Bias (EV) = 4/3 = 1.33
Metering Mode = spot (3).
Richard
Good sharpness and exposure and the background is clean. All the branches and little stubs sticking out are distracting for me. If it was mine, I would remove some of them. There is something funky going on with the edges throughout the image (e.g., see the upper and lower edges of the beak, the lower right side of the breast, and along the branches). Due to a selection in PS, perhaps?
I agree with Steve. It is a bit sticky and busy for me as well.
The branches above could be removed for a cleaner finish, but the angle is too steep anyhow for the image to be effective. Although the females are subtly coloured I would be tempted to up the saturation. Good exposure though, and you are lucky to have found these in your yard!! :-)
Nice looking bird. The branches are a bit overpowering.
