I've been in a bit of a "portrait" mood lately so I will be sharing some of those in the next few days (starting with the Blue Jay portrait I shared last week). To me its always a thrill to be able to create tight head-and-shoulder portraits, be it of larger birds such as ducks and geese, or with smaller songbirds such as jays and this grosbeak. I was fortunate that a few of them came close to me to feed on the ground on fallen seed , and by lying down in the snow I was able to line up the gray background behind the subject.
Canon 7D + 500mm f/4 II + 1.4TC, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/320s., f/6.3, ISO 800, natural light, handheld. small crop for comp but basically about 90%FF, minor bill cleanup to rid of 4-5 small darker debris pieces (spot removal and clone tools used)
This is excellent Daniel.
I like the gray BG that makes the yellow of the grosbeak pop out.
Beautiful feather detail and love the head tilt/angle with the snow on the beak.
Gail
Beautiful portrait shot, Daniel. It is very rich in details, perfect amount of sharpening, good head angle and eye contact. The open beak with the snow adds interest.
A thoroughly handsome bird, and you've done him justice. Perfectly framed and timed. Love the open bill with the bits of snow. Killer IQ. Looking forward to more ...
Man those Grosbeaks sure are photogenic and you are killing it with these guys. Love the detail and the color and good job lining up the BG to create this beautiful portrait. Nice work Daniel
Evening Grosbeak Portrait.
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