The day after I captured the Black-capped Chickadee on the pine branch (see yesterday's post), I had a Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse and Northern Cardinal all visit the same branch over a 30-minute period. Here's the Cardinal. Although I'm partial to Chickadees, the Cardinal is probably more appropriately sized to the perch.
D90 | 80-400 VR @ 195 mm | ISO 640 | 1/200s @ f/8 | 0EV | tripod
I really like this one. Well exposed, very nice composition, pleasing background. Feels like I am there. If it were mine I might consider cloning out the blurry snowflake near his eye, but that's a very minor issue. Well done!
Very nice Bill - I like the proportions of this one and, of course, that cardinal color to liven up the interest and balance the image. Nice detail on the bird and a great look back. The snowscape rounds it all out nicely. The oof branches in the BG are definitely there to be noticed/distracting but the strength of the bird keeps pulling me back. So not a big issue.
A beautiful winter scene for sure. I would definitely remove the streaked snowflake almost touching the eye. I like the BG colour, but not so much the faint branches - with the bigger culprit being the one crossing behind the head...perhaps worth toning it down.
I love how the snow has even accumulated on the thin needles.
Thank you all for the kind comments. I'll definitely clone out the oof snowflake near the eye. Daniel, I actually sort of liked the hint of snow-covered branches in the bg. I had toned them down a little in the OP, and perhaps could have gone further. But I agree that the one behind the head is particularly distracting. I'll try a version with that one removed. Thanks for the suggestion.