Red Cardinal head

[Hazel Grant]

I was out on my back porch watching with my camera and the new 2x teleconverter I'd just gotten, just in case....and this red cardinal landed in the tree next to me, framed by an oval of leaves. I quickly snapped while he was there. And when I checked, I had the sharpest Cardinal I'd ever shot (may not be that good to you, but it was a big step for me) except his tail was cut off by a post of the swing. bummer.....so I cropped to the head. With my Nikon D40x, I think the teleconverter is a good step right now.

1/60, 5.6, iso400, bright sunlight but the bird was shaded by the tree. handheld.

[Doug West]

Hazel...couple suggestions...don't know what software you use for post processing, but I'd start with... 1. Reduce the saturation in the red a little. 2. If you have Photoshop, apply some Shadow/Highlight filter...or a curves adjustment...but not to much cause you'll start to see noise since the photo was under exposed. I've included a quick workup on your image to show you what I am talking about...

[Hazel Grant]

Thanks. I do have PS so will work on that.