Canon EOS REBEL XT
Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS @ 400mm
Manual mode
1/320"
F8
ISO:200
LR & CS3
Tripod
Canon 430EX: On, Fired
I posted an altered version of this in the OOTB and some people were interested to see what a normal version looked like so here it is.
This fine fellow was waiting his turn at my seed feeder. There was a thin branch way in the foreground that created a winding blur across the bottom and across the tail that I cloned out. Some parts of the perch were too bright so I toned it down a bit.
Nice pose and sharpness, although focus seems to fall off a bit on top of the head. Light on the bird looks soft, but the perch seems pretty bright by comparison. I think you could tone down the perch a little more. Speaking of the perch, there's some dark stuff on top of the perch on the left side of the frame.
Good points by Doug. Overall I think you did well to get most of the bird in pretty good focus.
I might be tempted to push up the ISO a bit to give you a bit more flexibility on aperture and shutter speed.
Nice look back pose, background helps him stand out well.
Very handsome bird and killer BG, nice sharpness and pose. I don't like the square format but that's just my personal view. Since this is a set up I would expect a better perch and no need for cloning since you are in control of the process of making the image, not as when one goes in the forest where anything can happen.
The head looks acceptably sharp here in the Denver airport--free wi-fi :) As I suspected when I saw the blue version, this is a loverly capture. Yes to a few bright spots on the perch--best to try to recover/darken them during conversion. I love the pose and the head angle. And the BKGR. The eye looks a bit better here but could still use a bit of Eye Doctor work as it looks a bit shiny in spots.
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I love the texture of the feathers. One of the prettiest cardinals I have seen. I would try and implement Dougs and Arties suggestions which would make this a stunning image.
I think your biggest accomplishment here is the depth of field. Though not in profile, your cardinal's sharp from head to tail. Seems you risked it a little by using ISO 200; still you managed 1/320 sec. So no harm done.
This shot was taken a couple of years ago with my previous camera and more importantly, pre BPN. Hopefully when the weather cools down and I switch to bird mode, I'll do a better in camera so there isn't as much PP work to do.
Male Cardinal
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