Cardinal in Habitat

[Bernie Howe]

I found this Cardinal in the Arizona Desert down by the Salt River @ Granite Reef Dam



Make - Canon
Model - Canon EOS 50D
Lens - Canon 400mm 5.6L
FNumber - 5.60
ShutterSpeedValue - 1/320 seconds
ApertureValue - F 5.60
ExposureBiasValue - -0.33
SubjectDistance - 11.50 m
MeteringMode - Partial
Flash - Flash not fired
FocalLength - 400 mm
ExposureMode - Auto
White Balance - Auto

[Lance Peters]

Hi Bernie - wondering if a reduction in the saturation of the reds in the head area - might bring a little more detail into those area's - Have not d/l to check but reds might be a little hot in a couple of area's there - just going by what I see on the screen.
Like the head turn and the catchlight in the eye - BG is what it is.
Might just remove the in focus foreground branch that intersects the birds tail - a tad distracting.
Some might wish for a little more space all round.

Keep em coming :)

[Dave Leroy]

I like the pose and wonder if the bird could stand a bit more sharpening.

Nice shot of bird and habitat.

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Love this species and agree with Lance - the Cardinal almost always needs the reds desaturated some (-9ish).

A little tight IMO too - thanks for sharing.