A lovely bird indeed, with nice pose and perch. Well exposed, nice comp. Interesting how out of focus the perch is compared to the bird. Like the soft bg with just enough detail to add some sense of depth.
Beautifully composed image, the contrast betwen the BG and the intense color of the bird is superb. Plus the posture, the opened bill and the catchlight in the eyes.
Randy - I only sharpen the subject in the final stage of PP after resizing and I gave this one a little extra juice for the forum. You make a great point and perhaps I could have brushed the legs a bit to help transition the sharpening.
Gail - How cool! Her product is phenomenal, her laugh infectious and her passionate message for us all to get outside of the 'forum box' and let creativity shine is so inspiring. Love to meet her sometime. PS - thank you for your kind words :-)
A beauty, Brian. Like the calling pose, perch, and great background. Especially like that we see all the different patterns/colors on the feathers so clearly. Wonderful light as well.