Painted Redstart

[Paul Lagasi]

Another stop along the way on our trip through NM and Ariz. was Cave Creek Canyon Ranch, near Portal, Arizona. They have feeders that are always buzzing with activity, sadly it was overcast and snowing the day we were there, so not a lot of light to play with. For a small 5$ fee (Reed uses it to buy feed), you can spend time around the feeders. At this time of year no Orioles, Tanagers were present...I got lucky and spotted this Redstart, one of only two I saw on our trip...light wasn't the best but blacks, whites came out ok...
I had to use a slightly higher iso, this bird hardly stops moving...
Thanks for looking.

D300
Nikon 300 2.8
f3.5
1/500
iso-1000
pattern metering
shutter priority
handheld
raw image
added eye highlight
cropped

[Aidan Briggs]

The exposure, composition, and BG are nice. I like the perch too except for the OOF part. I might use a harder clone stamp to make the catchlight.

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Lovely composition and low angle Paul and a very nice pose and head turn. The BG really sets this image off well. Many thanks for sharing.

[Jean Chang]

Beautiful shot of a striking bird. BG is really lovely. If there was enough room to do it, I might rotate it a bit CCW to bring the head up a little.

[Paul Lagasi]

Thanks for all the comments..., I try to do as little a possible to an image when I post in Avian (learned that over last 2 years), the image below is my personal finished image...heavily photoshoped, rotated and cropped..its OOTB, so really doesn't belong here....just to show you

[D. Robert Franz]

Really like the 2nd rendition.... Great bird

[Jean Chang]

I love this repost! Looks fabulous! Nice photoshopping, too. Actually, I think it does belong here. As long as you state what you did, it shows others how to take a good shot and make it better, or maybe even salvage a shot we thought was no good. Thanks!