American Goldfinch

[gail bisson]

My first backyard setup. I put a large forsythia branch in a planter box, brought in all the bird feeders but one and put it on the ground by the branch and waited under a camouflage tarp.
Canon 1D MK IV
F 500 and 1.4x
ISO 800
F 5.6
SS 1/400
Comments and critiques always learned from and appreciated.
Slight crop~ 10%
PP in LR3 and CS5
Gail

[dankearl]

Gail, photographers like Jack Willamson would be much better to critique setup shots than I am, but for me
the flowers overwhelm the subtle colors of the female Goldfinch. I assume you were going to attract any birds that
came into the yard and this would make a great perch for certain very bright colored or even black birds.
Nice IQ and the bird looks great.

[Melissa Groo]

I see what Dan means about the flowers being somewhat overpowering. That said, I think you did a great job on your first set up. Great comp, BG, and head angle. Looking forward to more from your set up!

[Colin Knight]

The perch does take attention away from the bird, however I played with highlights and exposure a little in photoshop and think you can address that pretty easily. I'm not much for reposts so I'll leave that to your discretion. The perch and background are really beautiful though. It's a great setup and hopefully you'll show us more in the future. Not often you get a shot of a songbird at 10% crop. =) Well done.

[gail bisson]

Thanks Melissa and Colin. I have another shot with the very bright male goldfinch but I didn't post that one because I thought that was too much yellow. So perhaps I have been looking at this the wrong way ie. I chose the duller bird to lessen the impact of the yellow as a whole. I didn't think about the bird getting lost in the picture.
Appreciate the input,
Gail

[Dan Brown]

Very nice, Gail! I agree that the perch is a little strong. But, if this wasn't a setup, we would not be as critical of it IMO! I have found that selecting a perch for a setup is an art form in itself! I try to thing of how I might paint a perch and then use that as a guide in my search for a perch! A nice BG, a nice curve, a nice intersect with the frame edge, a color that isn't overpowering or too bright. And all that, working with what is blooming at the time! I am still working all this out myself but that is what my thought process is currently. Good work!

[Satish Ranadive]

Sweet image. Nice bird and bg. I like the flowering perch.Honestly ,I really do not know anything about set-up photography.

[Jonathan Ashton]

I must admit my first impression was that the perch was entirely appropriate to the bird - lovely colour coordination. If you crop just a smidgin off the bottom - say to just above where your name is I think the flowers become less dominant and the image is improved.

[Humberto Ramos]

Gail, agree with critics above, but if mine I would try to tone down the flowers a bit do see if it will put the attention on the bird.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Gail, nicely framed between the flowers, and I like the diagonal perch and pose of the Goldfinch. I agree with there being too much flowers, and I think Dan nailed it with his comment on 'selecting a perch for a setup is an art form in itself.'

Knowing you, I know you will get this right in no time, and show us what can be done from advice.

[Frank Schauf]

Very nice pose and colours.

[arash_hazeghi]

very nice Gail,
you should take a look at Alan's songbird setup DVD to figure how to "engineer" perfect perches! smaller and fewer flowers will help the bird stand out more.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Gail, I liked the image design and the details in the birds. Nice BG as well. But with those many flowers, you are going to need to stop down a lot...quite a lot actually....for DOF coverage.