Evening Grosbeak.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Not much time to go out lately so here is another from one of my favorite outings of the past winter. I nearly froze my fingers off for this species in Algonquin Park...but well worth it!

Canon 7D + 500mm f/4 II + 1.4TC, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/320s., f/6.3, ISO 800, natural light, handheld, FF, cloned out a longish piece of twig below right of perch, eye work (including addition of catchlight).

[Kaido Rummel]

Indeed was worth it, it is such a great shot of a very beautiful bird. I like the pose and of course the sharpness and the details are exceptional. Last month I was out looking for its relative - Pine Grosbeak - but unfortunately had no luck.

[Karl Egressy]

Beautiful shot, Daniel. Love the pose and perch. Did you do a setup or it was a natural perch?

[Joseph Przybyla]

Beautiful Daniel, lovely bird. I remember them from when I lived up north. They seemed to come to the feeder with the first snowfall.

[Ritesh Nangare]

Great Image......With perfect multi color BG, The Bird,the catch light and details.......

[shane shacaluga]

Lovely image. The perch with the lichen is wonderful and so is the colour of the BG

Bird colours and pose are great. For some reason on my monitor this image looks more like a painting than a photograph. Have you added any effects to the face and beak by any chance?

TFS

[Grace Scalzo]

i studied your exif data to see if you used flash, because that's what the catchlight looks like to me. I would rework that a bit, make it a hair bigger, and a fraction less bright. Otherwise, the image is stunning. The hints of color in the backround are a nice touch, as is that nice perch.

[David Salem]

Every time I have opened up one of your Grosbeak images I am blown away with the beautiful colors and feather detail. Something about this bird and the way you have captured it that I really like, I think the BG really makes the bird pop well. Another fine frame Daniel.

[Neil Nourse]

This is a beauty Dan. Just enough color in the background to make it interesting. Great perch, and the bird is stunning.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Thanks a bunch guys!!

Karl, I should have specified that yes, this is a feeder setup.
Shane, I did not add anything i usually don't...just my usual sharpening.
Grace, I'm open to tweaking the catclight - I just did not want to make it look like the sun as it is overcast. But I will definitely take your suggestions to heart.

[Bill Dix]

I love everything about this one: stunning colors, great head angle, painterly BG, lovely detail, super perch. What't not to like.

[Andre Pretorius]

Wow!

Bird amazing crisp and well exposed.

Even lichen crisp and complement the colour of subject.

Midtones amazing, do you use curves and with what blending mode to enhance them?

Stunning comp and killer BG.

Nice one!

Andre

[Lorant Voros]

Absolutely perfect. The pastel BG brings out even more the beautiful colors of the bird. The PP is well done as well including the added catchlight. You still make your 7D shine, Dan, and you make a good use to your new 500mm.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Daniel - beautiful image, great colors and pose. There's a small halo along the upper back.

TFS,
Rachel

[Daniel Cadieux]

Thanks again everyone!

Midtones amazing, do you use curves and with what blending mode to enhance them?

Andre, I do not use curves. This image benefitted from even bright overcast light plus the snow covered ground acting as a nice reflector from below (the perch was about 3 feet from the ground).

[arash_hazeghi]

love the pose and sharp details

[William Dickson]

Lovely Daniel Well done

[Satish Ranadive]

Very very sweet image of beautiful bird.

Regards,
Satish.

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Glad you still have those fingers Daniel. Well executed and nicely presented.

[Greg Oakley]

Simply just superb Daniel

[Holger Leyrer]

This is a stunning image. Perch and BG are great. The bird, ... wow. Colours and feather details are super. The pose, especially the attitude of the head, is perfect in my eyes. The image has charisma.