Intense colours, Gary. I find the BG a bit close in hue to the bird - it may be worth trying to selectively desaturate it a bit to see if the bird becomes more prominent in the image. Sharpening haloes are a bit prominent as presented. Good aperture choice to get the DOF required.
Excellent work! The pose of the bird here is very good and I like the composition. I agree that the colour of the bird is a bit too similar to the background. The background colour is a bit too bright/saturated in my opinion as well, so maybe a bit of desat on the background would work.
Colors are fantastic in this one but I agree with Tony that the Bg is a bit intense and distract a bit so, another vote for selective desaturation here :-)
I really like the look-back pose, and the sharpness of the bird and lilac branch. Agree with above comments about bg color, and the need to tone it down. Could be a stunning image if bg didn't detract from the bird. Might consider an adjustment in bg hue if possible, in addition to desaturation.
At first glance, I also thought the bg was too bright but the more I look at it, the more I like it the way it is and I think it would make a very striking print.
Thank you for all the comments! Now that I have looked at it again the saturation does seem a bit to high. here is another shot at it, even though I did not touch the saturation on the first, I reduced it on the second. Hopefully this looks better
Although I prefer the toned down BG on the repost, I do prefer the yellows on the Goldfinch on the OP. Perhaps somewhere in between for the bird would be best (but closer to the first).
Amazing comp, I just love the overall feel to the image. Way to go!!:)
Wow, what a striking image. Very saturated which doesn't usually work for me, but for some reason this does. I really like the comp. I keep coming back to it and the more I do the more I like it. Well done.