I had a pair of finches at my feeders yesterday. I really wanted a shot of the male but he would not pose for me. Sony A700, 70-400G @400mm, f8, 1/1250, iso800, ec+0.7, late afternoon sun. Cropped from horizontal. The sun reflected off the tree trunk behind the bird so I darkened the trunk and tried to blend it into the rest of the BG. On the bird: S/H, contrast boost, levels, sharpening.
beautiful bird! love the neutral colors - did you consider cloning out the thin tendril on the perch, in the lower left corner? I didn't realize that was a tree trunk behind it until i more carefully read what you had written!
Your techs look good. One thing I would consider is a tighter crop. There is some negative space on the left and top that kind of make me feel like there is some empty space. I would go a tighter crop similar to this.
Let me know if it works for you or not.
Peter, I think this might be a female house finch instead of a purple finch. They look very close to one another and this reminds me of the ones I see almost daily at my feeders.
The exposure, details, and pose look good. You could blend the BG with the brush trick (soft brush, 20-30% opacity, use eyedropper to grab the BG color and put it as the foreground color for the brush).
I would also clean up the perch and clone out all the tiny imperfections. Sid's crop is a bit too close for me - I prefer the original but wouldn't mind seeing a bit more room on both sides. He feels very tight on the left so adding a slice of room there and an equal amount on the right would better balance the image IMO.
Thank you for your comments.
Sid, I do have a version cropped like your re-post. I liked the version I posted better.
Julie, I went back and forth on my ID. Thanks for the correction.
Peter
Great capture Peter. Wonderful warm light and awesome pose.
I agree with Julie, I think the crop is too tight on the original. Could do with some more room on the left. Obviously I know this is easier said than done if there is no more frame to grab!! You could try increasing the size of the canvas to the left and then doing a content aware fill. I am often surprised at the job it does with a good background such as the one you have.
I also agree that the OOF bits on the perch could be cleaned up a little.
Feeder question - what food do you use to attract finches?
Thanks for your comments, Rob. In answer to your question; During the winter I use Black ol sunflower seed and Safflower seed. The House Finches seem to prefer the Safflower. I also have a Thistle feeder primarily for Goldfinches.
Peter
I do the same, Peter. I see more house finches on the safflower feeder and the goldfinch stick to the nijer/sunflower nut mix. They also like a nut feeder chock full of seeds, nuts, and berries.
Purple Finch (f)
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