I guess from a head angle point of view he could be turned toward you some more.
Tell me if I'm wrong, but my guess is that you added the catchlight? It looks a bit unnatural. Whenever I've tried adding catchlights myself I end up deleting them again for this reason. I think using flash is probably the best way from the start.
Looks like you had harsh sunlight, which has made some of the white feather edges look rather hot, but that could just be the web jpeg. I wish for just a little sun here, I'm having to use very high iso for anything.
Some good points by Geoff. The biggest culprits here are the angles: both sunlight and head angles. You have a very beautiful background, and I'm not sure what is beyond the frame at right, but if you could move left to get the sun directly at your back (pointing your shadow towards the subject) that would give you stronger results as far as subject illumination goes. I imagine these guys are like the American Goldfinches in that they love the niger seeds, and the great thing about those cheap plastic feeders is that they are easy to move around as the light does.
Adding catchlights can be tricky. You have to be careful of where the light came from. In this instance the light is from the left. I would estimate that any catchlight visible would be between the 9 to 10 o'clock position on the eye.
A very cute little fella, and I see from the bill that it has been busy feeding! Good catch!
I agree with the harsh lighting comments but the head angle doesnt bother me, as long as the eye is in view, I think it is acceptable. Nice detail and perch.
Peter
Looks much more natural in this one Gus, and on a different monitor as I am now the whites on the back look fine too. This is one of those cases for me where you can just sharpen a little, sit back, and enjoy!
Gus, this is a beauty! I also wish we had a little more head turn but I do like that you have a catchlight and some eye contact. One trick I've learned is to tone down the harsh white with a soft brush and 10-15% opacity. It really helps it blend down the harsh white a bit.
I also love the bright, cheery mood of this one but wanted to see if I could draw the eye to the bird more. Darkening the lighter area above the bird's head and around the edges of the frame gives it a more dramatic feel - you might want to play with that as well.
Thank you vry much for looking, and all your kind critiques with helpful advice hat definitely adds to my learning experience.
Jules; Thanks for your redo, I love it and you always remind me to pay attention. "Careless lips, sink ships." Also bomber as experienced over Nurenburg in WWll when we had our greatest single raid loss. 95 airccraft, Lancasters & Halifax's, crew of 7 on each Bomber.
Lesser Goldfinch
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