Hawfinch

[John Robinson]

That,s what I call a beak !!!

Interestingly a while back I changed the backdrop at my little pool to a darker feel with some old logs. Theres usually moss and greenery there naturally. I think it turned out well in this case as it seened to bring out the colours- and they are colours to say the least.
D7000 Sigma 100-300
640 ISO
125th@f8
80% of frame
Paint Shop Pro Curves
Image guru
CZM high pass filter. Thanks for last comments.
Cheers
JohnR

[Bill Dix]

Hi John. How can you complain about not having exotic birds to photograph? This guy may be common to you, but this, and the Grey Wagtail from the other day, are exotic on my side of the pond. The colors are gorgeous, and I like the pose and lighting. Nicely done.

[John Robinson]

Thanks Bill . I take your point ! We only have a few though !!! Hawfinches are getting very scarse in fact !
Thanks
John

[William Dickson]

That is really good John,background and bird looks perfect

[Binu John]

Beautiful shot of a beautiful bird, John! I love the pose, light and exposure!

[christopher galeski]

Nice one John,great bird,one I have yet to see,sharp with nice detail,like the pose.

[Jonathan Ashton]

I am envious John! I still have not got a shot of one of these beauties. I would (don't take offence!) reprocess if I were you. The bird is a little bit soft and I think you can get some more detail in the plumage having said that I note the SS is only 1/125 sec was the bird still? The left foot and leg looks a little dodgy did you apply selective sharpening/noise reduction?

[Andy Shepherd]

Hi JR...I'm going to have to agree with Jonathan re the sharpness/detail, it is somewhat lacking for some reason. I have seen just about all your work of Hawfinch, taken with the D7000, and the super fine detail that has always been present in all your previous shots is missing. It almost looks like it has had too much Noise Reduction, which has killed all the detail.

Other than the above points, it is a great setting, containing a superb bird, and like Jonathan, I too am very envious.

[John Robinson]

Thanks guys
Jon/Andy
Simple answer- I think I posted the wrong one. Maybe I didn't sharpen when downsizing- maybe no noise reduction. Anyway this is the one from the archives that I,ve posted before and think its the right one.
Don't forget by the way these birds are very soft plumaged which doesn't help and this is no one opf my best shots by any means i agree,
I did a background noise redution layer Jon. Not sure what you mean about the left leg though. Looks ok to me - thats how they are.
Cheers
JohnR