Evening Grosbeak, male

[Tim King]

Taken in January of this year.

50D | 300mm F4L IS | HH
ISO 640, 1/1000, f4
placed perch over some seed.

Thanks all.

[dankearl]

NIce comp and a nice winter feel.
I think a bit of lightening up the face and possibly adding a catchlight would look nice.

[Don Nelson]

Nicely posed and great perch.
Your images would look better on this forum if you posted at 1024 wide instead of 800.

[Joe Senzatimore]

What a beautiful bird and capture. Just love the light and BG. Might need a very small catch light???

[PhilCook]

Nicely composed Tim, liking the mossy perch and rain drops behind, nice mood in this image. The first thing that caught my eye however is the bright yellow area under his tail, it tends to glow a bit strongly....sweet looking little bird

[Henry Domke]

Might need a very small catch light???

Dan and Joe, you both mentioned a catch light would help. Are you suggesting that one be done after the fact? In other words, that it should be created digitally? Or, are you suggesting that he use flash in the future to be sure he gets a catch light?

If you are suggesting creating a catch light digitally, do you have any suggestions on technique?

Thanks!
Henry

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Killer bird, lovely perch and pose. Nice light also.

[John Cooper]

A great looking composition Tim and interesting perch. Another vote for a catchlight as the eye tends to blend in with the brown tones of the cheek. loving the winter feel to this image.

[Tim King]

As requested: Dodged the eye, Burned the under tail coverts and added pix. I ran a NR in the BG but saved the snowflakes with a layer.



Thanks for your input.

[Satish Ranadive]

Tim:
Excellent image of grosbeak.Very nice composition.Beautiful bird with nice colors,details,nice pose and interesting perch.
I like the snowflakes.Re post looks very nice. TFS.

Regards,
Satish.

[Melissa Groo]

Wonderful job on your repost, really brings this beautiful bird to life. Love your perch, and the soft light. Hope I manage a portrait this nice of an evening grosbeak someday.

[gail bisson]

The repost is stunning Tim.
just one last tweak suggestion- if this was mine I would clone out the little curved branch at the bottom.
I love clean edges though so that is a personal preference and I find my eye looking at the branch,
gail

[Marina Scarr]

Quite a stunner, and the RP works even better. The snowflakes add a lot of interest. Might the vegetation on the perch be oversharpened a bit?

[Jim Crosswell]

Excellent image Tim. Repost looks better. I like Gails suggestion on cloning out the curved branch. I have never seen this bird around the Windsor area. Do you see them in Hamilton every winter?

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Tim, a lovely winter scene here, and I like the yellows and browns on this fellow. Your repost does look better in a larger format, and agree the falling snow adds interest.