Cardinal on the snow

It's about zero here and the birds are coming in for food. This one was on the ground getting the seeds that fell from our feeder.

f5.6, 1/320 sec. shutter priority, 100iso, 300 mm focus.

Hazel I like this kind of compositions with a lot of room to show the environment of the bird but in this case I think it is a bit excesive because there are a lot of distracting elements (dark stuff) in the background. I suggest to crop a bit from the right.
The image needs some levels adjustment, and a touch of selective saturation and sharpening to the bird. If it is Ok with your ethic, I would clone out the small snowflake in the face of the bird (even more of the dark stuff overlaping with the bird).
Hope this helps :)

Such a beautiful bird, Hazel. I agree with Juan that the frozen plants and the seed detract from the beauty of the bird...I bet with a bit of creativity that you can get the bird out in the open and photograph him without the stuff in the way. Try putting a stick in the snow for him to land on before he goes for the seed. Are you by any chance photographing through glass? There is a dullness to the cardinal that makes me wonder. Stay warm.

thanks to both of you for comments. I debated a lot about cropping. I wanted to pay attention to the rule of thirds, etc. Yes, it is through glass, and yes, I know that tends to soften the image, but at zero and below, I don't want to wait outside for them to come. I'll keep working on it. Thanks.

I like the pose on the bird and placement in the snow Hazel. I'd avoid shooting through any glass whatsoever, and fill flash would correct the lack of coloration on the Cardinal.

I understand the avoiding glass thing, but sometimes you just can't help it....

Thanks for the fill flash suggestion

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hazel Grant

I understand the avoiding glass thing, but sometimes you just can't help it....

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Does not compute. I do not take wildlife photos through windows. Take the reverse of Nike's slogan here: Just don't do it!