Snow Cardinal

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Took this a few months ago. Light snow, low light used flash (ETTL). Light use of healing brush, noise reduction and sharpened.
Canon 7D
Canon 500 f/4.5
Canon Speedlight 580EXII
ISO=500
Flash -1
1/200

[Kerry Perkins]

Jeff, nice to see you posting - I really like this. Love the color, detail, head angle, and exposure. The snow in the bg is well-controlled and complimentary. This would make a great holiday greeting card with some text on the right side. I absolutely love the snow on his head! I might darken the pupil just a bit.

[John Chardine]

Hi Jeff- nicely done. Love the snow too. The reds are well controlled- this is a problem with cardinals et al. It's easy to overload the red channel and lose detail. The image is unconventional because the bird is looking into the short side of the frame, producing a lot of negative space behind it. This can work in certain circumstances when, for example, it tells a story or adds to the feeling of action (like in Tom Redd's "Run away!" post in ETL recently). In a static pose like this one, I think it's better to have the bird looking into the longer side like this. BTW I agree that for a greeting card, the negative space would be great for some words and would act to close-up that negative space and give the illusion that it's the sort side of the frame.

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Thanks John. I like the OP because it adds to the long curved perch coming out of the frame. That helps balance and frame the image IMO. But agree there are many ways to set the mage - thanks again.

Both are good, I appreciate the suggestions.

[nancy hazen]

I love this one Jeff. I like the blurred bg and the perch that seems to come forward from the snow. Very nicely done!
Nancy