I came upon the most cooperative Rose-breasted Grosbeak ever the other day. Unfortunately it was rather impromptu as my day was finishing and was actually out of the area I was photographing in and was heading home, so I scrambled to find some good perches, without too much success. I did settle on a young birch tree that served it's purpose well enough. Before it landed on the birch (attracted via audio), it staged on this pine tree, and it unexpectedly became my favorite of the series I took of this fella. When I reviewed the series on my PC I was more than thrilled with the BG on this frame!
Canon 7DII + 500mm f/4 II + 1.4TC III, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/320s., f/5.6, ISO 800, natural light, handheld, FF, usual eye work, a few spots in the BG removed via spot removal tool. Punched up the "rose" on the breast which was rather dull on the raw file, and also lifted the shadows under the belly and tail (dodge tool).
Wonderful capture Dan, I really like the BG as well. Looks like this grosbeak has been eating something yellow ( any idea what?) with evidence on the beak! I like the pose, and great colors.
Wow what a BG...love the circular motions and shades of green. Lovely detail on the bird, with great control of the blacks and whites. Nice perch... just a thought. The perch looks quite 'jaggy' which on my screen takes away the critical sharpness on the bird, especially on the head and upper blacks. I would try a little more sharpening on those parts. Lovely image..Very pleasing to the eye
Good looking frame, Daniel. All the tech look good, and the needles do create a very pleasing effect behind. My only issue is the composition as the bird feels crammed into the lower-left corner of the frame. Mayve you did that to show more of the nicely patterned perch?
Like you, I love the BKGR and the bird. I do not mind the image design. The only thing that bugs me is that the bird is crouched down onto the perch ...
with love, a
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Daniel, the BG is awesome the radiating pine needles add a bit of artistic flair. This bird is vey rare here in So. CA., I've only seen one and couldn't get a decent shot.
The perch and HA are alright too, I don't mind the crouching.