Purple Finch

[Aidan Briggs]

A female Purple Finch on a Pyracantha perch set up over a drip pond this morning. I wish I had used fill flash on this one, but the birds would jump as the flash went off.

This bird has really fine feathers; it was a bit tricky to sharpen. I removed the edge of a leaf poking in on the bottom

50D, 100-400 at 400mm
1/320, f/7.1, ISO 640
Tripod, Blind

[Daniel Cadieux]

This is really pretty Aidan, I like it very much. I only wish the finch would have swung its tail over to the side to prevent it merging behind the foot. Very well done on all accounts!!

P.S. Some of the dried stuff among the berries could have been physically removed before taking any images...

[Aidan Briggs]

Thanks for stopping by Daniel. I pruned some leaves and twigs off this perch but forgot the dried berries. I could probably take them out in PS, but I kind of like the ones at the top.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I don't mind the ones at top either, but at least the ones below should have gone. Still one heck of an image!

[Aidan Briggs]

Thanks Daniel, I agree about the ones on the bottom.

[Tony Fernando]

This is a superb picture.. Love the tones & also the crisp focusing.

[John Blumenkamp]

Great composition and posture of the finch in my opinion. I also like the subtle variation to the tones of the background. Great detail and sharpness.

[Ilija Dukovski]

Very cool composition and balance between the bird and the plant.
The bird forms a line with the stem of the plant and the berries
are diverting the point of interest from it.
I like it very much.

[Harshad Barve]

Beautiful image with lovely pose , nice BG and spot on exposure
TFS

[RAM MALLYA]

Lovely capture like the bird as well as the fruit color

[Bryan Hix]

The bird is nice and sharp with good HA and catchlight. Love the comp and I actually like some of the dried stems although if you really wanted to, you could PS out some of the unwanted leaves and stems. The only one that I would remove is the little leaf near the right foot.

[Aidan Briggs]

Thanks for the comments everyone. Bryan, I am happy with all the leaves in the frame, but dislike the dried black stuff near the bottom of the berry cluster.

[Bryan Hix]

Thanks for the comments everyone. Bryan, I am happy with all the leaves in the frame, but dislike the dried black stuff near the bottom of the berry cluster.

I like everything about the photo as posted, removing anything more is just personal taste. Nice job. :)

[Peter Farrell]

very nice compostion, colors and clarity

[arash_hazeghi]

nicely done Aidan, love the colors and BG.