Female Northern Cardinal

[Joel Eade]

From a set up in my yard.

1DX
500mm
Tripod + Wimberly II
Manual mode
ISO 1600
f/6.3
1/2000

[Ian Cassell]

This is an image that any proud cardinal parent will love. It is a beautiful portrait of a beautiful bird.

[douglas hayes]

Nice soft light and yet vivid colours. Glamour glow.

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Nice post processing here. I also like the ''proud look'' of the bird.

[Robert Kimbrell]

What a beauty, I love the processing. His expression is so intent.

[Joe Senzatimore]

Sweet. Different, and it works well. Love the set-up.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Sweet soft, glowing light and a studio type setting.
This cardinal is definitely CEO material

[Terry Johnson]

Joel, a wonderful image. Would you mind describing your set-up in more detail and what post-processing you performed. Your image looks as if it was taken in a studio.

Thanks...Terry Johnson

[Bret Goddard]

Beautiful shot Joel, She is a beauty. The bg and perch are very nice, like already said, beautiful softness. Was there snow on the ground?

[Joel Eade]

Thanks for all the kind words. Yes, there was snow on the ground and it was slightly back lit as well. The set up is a just a tree branch placed next to a platform feeder in my yard. The background is trees. The original was a little dark, it was overcast, and the backlight made it appear like a vignette. In post I use Nik Dfine followed by Color Efex Pro detail extractor of about 5-10% on the bird and perch only. Then another round of Color Efex Pro using the Lighten Center filter to accentuate the vignette effect and yes, a touch of Glamour Glow at about 10%. Finally I sharpen with Topaz In-Focus and then Topaz DeNoise on the BG only.

[Satish Ranadive]

Spectacular image with wonderful lights. Beautiful pose, great details, though perch is large it looks nice here and composition.

Regards,
Satish.

[Rob Melone]

A beautiful pose and love the light and color. It's artwork!

[Marina Scarr]

Very dramatic, pleasing portrait.