Male Cardinal

[jack williamson]

I have plenty of cardinals to choose from at my setups. D800, 300mm, 1.4tc, tripod, SB910 flash. 1/160, f6.3, ISO 800. Crop, WB, Exp, Blacks in ACR. NR, USM, eye work in CS6

[dankearl]

Jack,
The square crop works, I am not sure how else you would crop.
Beautiful IQ, sharpness and perch.
I tried for two weeks in the South to get a photo of one to no avail.
Locals would give me funny looks and wonder why I wanted a photo of such a common bird (for them).
You are extremely lucky to have such a beautiful common backyard bird!
You make them look regal.

[Satish Ranadive]

What a lovely pose ,this handsome bird has given to you ?
Love the beautiful colors,nice details,perch,crest,eye and smooth green BG.
Square composition works with this pose very nicely.

Regards,
Satish.

[jack williamson]

Thanks Dan and Satish. Dan- there is probabaly 20 different cardinals that come to my feeders, I wish you could have imaged one while you were down south.

[PhilCook]

Let me get this right....you have these birds come to feeders in your backyards......so very very enviable !

Exposure perfect and such amazing detail showing through on often difficult reds, striking eye popping contrast against the green backdrop, gnarly perch is very nice and the eye with catchlight nice and clear. One of the few times I think a square crop works well....splendid photo Jack

[arash_hazeghi]

nice pose, good details, perch and BG. This photo is a good example of correctly exposing and processing reds.

[Melissa Groo]

Such a wonderful portrait. Can't think of anything I would change. Super job on exposure, sharpness, and comp/crop.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Awesome colours and yes, the square crop works beautifully here. Perch, BG, pose all work nicely together. Only thing I'd do, and it is minor work, is remove the pale spot directly in the middle of the eye's pupil.

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the pose, HA, exposure, details, sharpness, BG and composition. Perch has character and lines up with the tail perfectly. A real beauty Jack!

[Ron Sprunger]

Jack, this is terrific. I've made a half-dozen trips to the south over the past few years, and still not gotten any cardinals worth printing. I love this one. Perfect exposure and sharpness, no over-saturation or other obvious processing. Very nice indeed.

- Ron

[Jim Thomas]

Nice! I don't usually go for square crops, but works well. Also like the detail in the red, so often in cardinal photos the reds seem blown.

Jim

[Diane Miller]

Wonderful! Great IQ and handling of colors.

[David Salem]

One of the best Cardinal shots I have seen posted here. Come to think of it, the other was yours too. Simply put, Beautiful!!

[MohsenVahedipour]

Nice flash work with lovely BG,perch & feathers colors & details. Very well exposed.

[jack williamson]

I appreciate all of the comments and advice.