Goldfinch with Thistle

[Mark Schack]

I saw a bunch of Goldfinch eating some field thistle and thought the lavender and yellow combination looked nice. My wife says, "it's because they are on the opposite sides of the color wheel" and I said, "the color what"?

This was my first attempt at masking. I did some noise reduction on the BG and a single pass of sharpening on the subject. I also cloned out some OOF thistle pods from the foreground.

Hope you like it. Comments always welcome.

Nikon D40
Sigma APO 150-500mm
1/800
f/6.3
ISO-800
500mm
Aperature Priority
Exposure Comp - +0.33

[Glenn Romain]

Hi Mark its hard to get this guys to stand still for a second ,you dont mention the use of a tripod wich i think would have helped you with this one . I cant critique your composition because im in the early learning stages myself but i can comment on sharpness and your capture seems to be missing a littleso i hope you dont mind my little edit here . I sharpened the goldfinch a touch more and gave the BG another NR pass. hope you like it :)

[Jenny Wren]

HI Mark,

I really like this picture with "opposite" colours. Something you should look at one day! And, like Glenn, I am still very much in the learning process, so critiquing is difficult. I can only comment on what is pleasing (or not) to me. The sharpening Glenn has done has made a big difference. I would take a little off the LHS to place the bird a little more off centre, and if I had the skill, maybe brighten the catchlight in his eye.

Well done.

JW

[Gus Cobos]

Hi Mark,
I like the capture, would have liked to have seen the bird looking at you, instead of away from you...The base image is a tad under exposed and the yellows need to be desaturated a bit, the blacks lack details, and your subject is a little bit on the soft side...I recommend waiting for the proper capture when the bird is looking your way. You need to adjust the mid-tones, boost the over all saturation and contrast...selective sharpen the eye and run noise reduction in the background...keep this as a record image and use it as a learning block for your next one...looking forward to your next one...:cool:

[Kerry Perkins]

You're on the right path here Mark and Mr. Cobos laid out the road map for you! Jenny, that is very observant of you and this is one of those subtle elements that make for a pleasing image.

Mark, would also suggest posting at the max image size, which is max 1024 horizontal or 800 vertical.

[Lance Peters]

Hi MARK = Gus has nailed the critique - very good advice indeed. Glenns repost does improve - but the HA is the biggie for me.

[Alfred Forns]

Excellent re post Glenn !!!

Agree with all points made but the main thing is head angle, I know we keep talking about it but it makes a difference !!!