Scarlet Rosefinch

[Menno Schaefer]

This bird is very rare in Holland and this year there 2 couples not very far from my home town. So i took the opportunity to take some pictures of the birds.

Canon 7d 500mm f4 x1.4ext
1/640sec f8 iso200

[Randy Stout]

Menno

This fellow looks similar to our purple and house finches.
Nice calling pose, well exposed.

The light angle has thrown quite a bit of him into shadow, and I feel the image would have been stronger if the sun had been a little more behind you.

Shooting angle to bird relatively steep.

Perch is well scaled to the size of the bird.

cheers

Randy

[Richard Stern]

Hi Menno,

It's always great to get a picture of a rarity, especially one like this that's better than just a "record shot". But I agree that some work on the shadows and highlights, and some sharpening on the body and possibly the head (although it may not be necessary after lightening) would help. Lightening it might introduce some noise, and that might have to be dealt with too.

Richard