Goldfinch+Repost

Steve. agreed, very nice detail in the bird in the larger version. I like the flowers too. Nice light and head turn. What is the bright orange part of the BG?

Thank you for your comment and question, Ron. The orange part of the background is leaves in Fall color. At that time the forest was becoming very colorful. Now the leaves are pretty much all on the ground....but at least I can see the birds better......the ones that are still around here that is...

I like watching these birds feast on the seeds in autumn. I plant sunflowers and leave them around as long as possible just to observe them. Nice detail in the bird. I love their vibrant colors in spring/summer but also appreciate the more muted plumage of winter.

Good complimentary colors and habitat inclusion - though I think it's just a little too busy

Great image. Those flowers in various stages help to tell the story. I like that you have left all of them in. BG colors are a nice completion.

this is really nice, Steve. I really like the comp and the way the flowers flow from upper left to lower right. details look good too.

Steve,
lovely setting, beautiful pose and excellent detail. Really nice.

The finch looks great Steve. I agree that the detail is very good. I also love the foreground flowers and leaves. Must admit though that I'm not too sure about the orange leaves in the background. I know they're natural but for me they pull my eye away from the bird. I'll likely be the odd man out on that one but it's an honest reaction for what it's worth.

Nice & sharp and a great setting Steve..
Very easy on the eye

Steve,

I like the pose of the finch and the head turn which gave you some lovely light in the eye. You have nice details in the plumage of the goldfinch too.

I'm wondering about a slightly different crop, I can see why you would want to keep the gentle curve created by the seedheads but if you cropped off the first seedhead on the left, brought the crop close to the edge of the second that might reduce the impact of the orange leaves in the background?

Very nice! I really like the setting of the flowers and the way they cascade through the frame from top left to lower right and the bird looks great with a very nice pose. Personally I would crop off the left side cutting into the big leaf which I believe would minimize the bright orange OOF leaves in the BG.

Thank you all. I see some difference of opinion. I think that's great. It shows "rugged individualism". That's really what I hope for from reviewers. For those of you who found the orange part of the background distracting and suggested cropping, here is a try at it. I found that just cropping from the left made the canvas too narrow. So, I made it a bit more square. There are so many ways of doing this crop!!
It's interesting: I was not distracted by the orange in the background. Anyway, I like both versions!

I like the repost too, Steve. I suppose another option might be desaturating the oranges a little, if you wanted to go for a 3rd version.

Thank you, Brian. I think I'll just leave this one now as is and strike out for new challenges.....er...maybe "strike out" is not the right phrase....