Goldfinch

[Jonathan Ashton]

Camera Model Canon EOS-1D X
Shooting Mode Manual Exposure
Tv(Shutter Speed) 1/1600
Av(Aperture Value) 8.0
Metering Mode Evaluative Metering
Exposure Compensation 0
ISO Speed 1600
Auto ISO Speed ON
Lens EF500mm f/4L IS USM

The light had picked up slightly - had I been quick enough I would have gone for a faster shutter speed, I don't think it is too far out - I will be pleased to see what you think.

[arash_hazeghi]

what a pretty image Jon, love the dynamic pose with the stretched wings, attractive perch and the BG. details are sharp and exposure is good as well

TFS

[Marina Scarr]

This bird and frame is full of personality and color and movement.

[John Robinson]

Another good setup shot Jon.
I would move the bird to the left a tad to be really nit picking. I presume you wanted to keep the left hand Rowan leaves.
Nice one whatever.
JohnR

[Steve Kaluski]

had I been quick enough I would have gone for a faster shutter speed

Yep, but hey you still got it sharp and that's what counts!!! Great backdrop, good choice, like the fact you are parallel with the subject too, nice thinking.

TFS
Steve

[keith mitchell]

Your being a bit hard on yourself Jon but there is nothing wrong in trying for perfection,bird fits into your backdrop perfectly lovely soft and natural colours on the bird with just a bit of light coming through the wing feathers.

Keith.

[David Salem]

What a great looking framed Jonathan. Lots of awesome colors and I love the pose too. Details look really nice but I personally find it a bit underexposed.
I hope you don't mind me taking the liberty to play with it. I adjusted levels a little to brighten it up and added some saturation and contrast.
I also change the composition and added some canvas in front along with a little cleanup of the catch light. Very nice capture.

[John Robinson]

Repost much better.-Comp wise especially
JohnR

[Patrick Sparkman]

Gorgeous subject, great action, and background. I like the cropped version as it is not so centered and still retains that pretty green leaf.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thank you for the feedback everyone much appreciated.
David thanks for taking the time to do a repost, I did wrestle with cropping (very much as you did) in the first instance, perhaps I should have done so! Regarding your contrast and colour etc I like it, I keep letting it slip my mind that I don't necessarily have to be dictated to by the current lighting conditions.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Lovely image, Jonathan. Informative repost by David. Perfect perch, nice pose of the bird. Thank you for sharing.

[Bill Dix]

Beautiful colors, especially in that gorgeous background. Great wing position. David's repost helps overall. I could go with either comp, although I do like seeing the bird less centered as in the repost. Maybe a tad off the bottom in the repost comp?

[Glenn Conlan]

Great image and Daves repost made it even better as far as composition and the added punch of brightness and color

[Daniel Cadieux]

Excellent pose and BG. Although the original post is OK it was worth sacrificing the leaves at left to tweak the comp. Nothing wrong with the SS - I like the bit of wing blur.

[stuart wanuck]

nice imag but love the repost

[William Dickson]

Very well done Jon, no nits from me. i love the pose

will

[shane shacaluga]

Very nicely done. The original rocks but the RP just gives it some more oomph

Great work

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Jon, excellent IQ here, and love the horizontal perch. I like the pose with the raised wings, and there are just so many colours to look at. I quite like David's repost, but with maybe a bit more room on the RHS.