Reds are difficult to get right in the camera and then they are difficult to get right at the editing level... I have been playing with this picture for 2 hours to get it to my satisfaction...
How do you find it?
Quick note: the red look really different in Firefox compare to Safari on Mac!
Thanks for looking!
Canon MK III ISO400 1/640 f/8 EV -1/3 Flash Manual 1/16
Reds look good and natural from my end. Overall a great image...those reds look great against the dark olive green BG. Nice look-back pose. I might tone down the lighter part of the upper mandible.
I shoot Cardinals alot (state bird of Kentucky) and I agree the reds are sometimes hard to get right. You did well. The image looks a little too contrasty to me but the reds look fine. There are some threads on BPN about dealing with over-saturated reds that you should read...it helped me understand better how to deal with this issue.
Great cardinal shot, Francis. Beautiful color and light control. I usually just desat the red channel a little with these guys but you've taken it to the next level. Contrast looks great on my monitor.