Female Northern Cardinal tail fan

[Julie Brown]

I was watching this bird in my backyard, waiting for her to move into a more open position in the tree. Although this is a very steep angle looking almost straight up, I think the behavior makes it interesting. I did not attempt to clone out any of the branches, preferring to show where the cardinals like to hang out.

Canon 5D MK II, 300mm f4L IS + 1.4X TC, ISO 400, f5.6@1/640sec, pattern metering, Tv, +2/3 EV, HH, 7.65m

PP: LR 2.6
>50% crop
set black and white points, highlight recovery
enhanced clarity and vibrance, applied post-crop vignette
NR and sharpening in Nik Dfine 2.0 and Sharpener Pro 3.0

[Dave Mills]

Hi Julie, I also like the fanned out tail! The lighting, while not even, is not excessively harsh. I agree that the angle is a bit steep. I would have preferred a cleaner backround with less distractions...

[arash_hazeghi]

Nice Julie, wish the branch was not intersecting with the bird. Agree with Dave's comments.

Nice details in the tail and chest, TFS

[Lance Peters]

Hi Julie - agree with the above - just the steep angle for me.
Keep em coming :)

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Julie Agree on leaving the branches, it is a good record image and like the behavior !!! ... nailed the exposure !!!

[Julie Brown]

Thank you Dave, Arash, Lance, and Al for your comments.

The cardinals that come into my yard spend most of their time singing in this apple tree, and they don't seem to mind me watching them. But, I will keep stalking these birds until I get a clean BG. :D

BTW, I am getting the performance I anticipated from my new 5D MK II!