Just look at the extreme look of joy on her face...NOT! I got lucky here with a perfectly symmetrical "down the barrel" stare, with a slightly slanted pose to add a bit more edge to her good mood....
Canon 7DII + 500mm f/4 II + 1.4TC, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/200s., f/5.6, ISO 1600, natural light, handheld, slight crop from original vertical frame, minor bill clean up (via patch tool), sunflower seeds placed on the ground to lure the birds in.
Randy, -24F tonight ( feels like -42F with the wind thrown in ). My car battery was dead this morning due to the cold - my wife's car's hood support rod broke while I was boosting my car (the plastic was brittle from the cold and snapped). Likely to repeat boosting activities tomorrow. That is on top of my driver's side door handle ripping right off when the door was frozen shut a couple of weeks ago. Oh, the joys of winter...sometimes I look just like this cardinal does!!
DoF can often be hard to achieve perfectly with these types of images being 'head on', but again, you have nailed it. Love the jaunty body angle, but the snow environment has brought another dimension to the scene and just isolated the subject so well, wouldn't change a thing. Nice low POV too.
A real beauty with this straight look she gave you and the hairdo. Nice details in the plumage and an even lighting on the face. I can't even pull my hands out of the pockets of my coat for more than 2 seconds in this cold and you get a picture like this. Congratulations, Dan.
She's a beauty Daniel and love the wee tinge of orange on her breast. wonderful sharpness and pov. Maybe cloning the blackish spot LRS. enjoyed the high-key image. stay warm!