Goldfinch

[Jonathan Ashton]

Camera Model Canon EOS 50D
Shooting Mode Aperture-Priority AE
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/1000
Av( Aperture Value ) 7.1
Metering Mode Evaluative Metering
Exposure Compensation -2/3
ISO Speed 250
Lens EF500mm f/4L IS USM
AF Mode AI Servo AF

Taken from my hide, I used two rounds of Unsharp Mask as recommended for this image, I usually use Smart Sharpen I would appreciate any feed back in relation to sharpening as well as anything else, thanks.

[Steve Maxson]

A beautiful bird in a nice pose and very sharp around the head. I like the overall comp and the curve of the perch. You might try a little NR on the otherwise very nice background. Well done.

[Tony Whitehead]

Lovely perch, pose, sharpness and BG. Suspect the BG appearance is more jpg artifact than noise. Could possibly burn in the lichen on the perch LLC slightly to make it less bright. I would be happy to have this on my files.

[David Thomasson]

Very nice. I like the pose, perch, and overall comp. If you set white point, you can pull richer colors out of this image.

[Ofer Levy]

This is beautiful!! David's repost and cropping a bit off the top will make this a winner IMO.

[David Thomasson]

This is beautiful!! David's repost and cropping a bit off the top will make this a winner IMO.

I wasn't really suggesting that as a crop. I just cropped it to fit before and after in for comparison. ;)

[Ofer Levy]

I wasn't really suggesting that as a crop. I just cropped it to fit before and after in for comparison. ;)

I realise that - my crop suggestion was referring to the original together with your adjustment....;)

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Very striking image with a beautiful perch and BG. Excellent detail and eye contact as well as pose on the goldfinch. Congratulations on a fine image Johnathan.