These critters are tough to capture around here. They don't like pausing or posing. But I never really noticed the color variations in the cardinals before. This must be a female. I was surprised by the variation in coloring so I wanted to try for a close-up to show it.
Canon 6D
Sigma 150-600 @600mm
ISO 640 1/180 f/7.1
Tripod with flash ETTL
Crop, NR, sharpening and basic tweaks in LR
Selective dodge/burn in PS to tame the flash
(Still a few hot spots but they don't bother me much yet)
C&C welcome, as well as any info about cardinal color phases. :)








