Here's one i photographed recently whilst there was an influx of these beautifull birds down here in The Netherlands. Last time i had seen them was in 2004 so was pretty pleased to get some shots.
greetings,
Jeroen Stel
Canon Eos 1D MarkIV
Shutter speed: 1/160 sec
Aperture: F 8
Exposure mode: AV
Exposure compensation: - 2/3
Flash:no
Flash exposure compensation: -
Metering mode: Evaluative
Drive mode: AI Focus
ISO: 400
Lens: Canon 600mm F4
Focal length:780 mm
AF mode: Auto Focus
On tripod and Wimberley Head
Levels/Curves/USM/Contrast/Saturation/Noise Ninja/Home stewed Sharpening-mix / Adobe Photoshop CS5
They are lovely, soft looking birds, and the light here helped display that.
Perfect timing on the berry in the mouth, unusual pose, like the wings up just a bit to show the colors.
The berries are a very strong visual element because of their vibrant color. I am glad some of the foreground berries are toned down a bit by intervening foliage, it acts as a natural vignette.
In a perfect world, I would prefer to see a bit more of the body unobstructed.
I like this one alot, much different than the usual "winter" leaf-less images with red berries that we get here. I like the wing tips pointing up. I wish the FG OOF elements were not there, but very nice overall.