Regal Finch

[Bill Dix]

Something about the crimson color and over-the-shoulder look made this common House Finch take on a regal air. I was set up for different birds on a different perch in different lighting when this fellow landed practically next to me in mixed light. Got off one underexposed shot before he realized how close I was and took off. Recovered as best I could in RAW transfer. Might have wished for a prettier perch. Esssentially full-frame (added slivver of canvas to the bottom, cropped a slivver for comp on top and right). C&C appreciated.

D90
80-400 VR @ 370mm w/ 25mm ext tube
ISO 1250
1/800s @ f/8
-1.0 EV(?)
Tripod

[Doug Brown]

Very nice pose with great sharpness in the eye. I would go brighter on the bird, and would consider removing the vertical part of the perch. Also there's some funny PS stuff on the feathers near the legs; they're green.

[Michael Zajac]

Good details and pose.Nice eye contact

[Bill Dix]

Very nice pose with great sharpness in the eye. I would go brighter on the bird, and would consider removing the vertical part of the perch. Also there's some funny PS stuff on the feathers near the legs; they're green.

Thanks Doug. Yes, I noticed the green feathers; I was a bit careless with my mask when I processed the bird. Debated removing that part of the perch but decided to leave it. I should try a version without it and see which looks best. Appreciate the comments.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the look-back pose, sharpness and BG. Another vote for removing the color cast.

[denise ippolito]

Bill, Nice sharp details and I like the pose and BG. Agree w/color cast stuff.

[Bill Dix]

Thanks Denise and Axel. Actually I don't think it's a color cast (unless you're seeing something that I'm not). When I selected to bird to process separately from the bg, I included a few of the fine feathers below the bird, and when I brightened that layer it screwed up the bg around those feathers. I went back to clone in some bg color with a low opacity, but it turned those feathers green. I'm not sure about the best way to process a bird that has a few fine feathers sticking into the bg, except by using a 1px brush to select them, which I didn't do. Any suggestions?

[denise ippolito]

Bill, Topaz remask has a nice user friendly program that allows fine feathers to be excluded from BG work. I am seeing some blue tones on the perch also.

[James Salywoda]

Great look back pose and perch nice shot Bill.

[Bill Dix]

Bill, Topaz remask has a nice user friendly program that allows fine feathers to be excluded from BG work. I am seeing some blue tones on the perch also.

Thanks Denise. I like the Topaz Denoise product (which helped here with the relatively high ISO and recovery from an underexposed shot), but haven't tried Remask. I'll look into it.

[Stu Bowie]

Bill, you certainly captured a great pose, and I like the angled perch. I agree with the others regarding the green cast, and the blue on the perch.

[Arthur Morris]

My take on the major issue for me :) Plus, I lightened the face a bit. Image quality and SH superb. Ditto all the positives.

[Bill Dix]

My take on the major issue for me :) Plus, I lightened the face a bit. Image quality and SH superb. Ditto all the positives.

Thank you Artie. It does make a difference. I guess I'll take the lopping shears to my master file.

[Arthur Morris]

YAW. You should be able to do a lot better with more pixels :) IO used many Quick Masks plus some Patch Tool work.