Nature Photographers Network
This is the preserved archive of the original Nature Photographers Network. The community continues at naturephotographers.network.
Visiting Cardinal
‹ PreviousAvian GalleryNext ›

Visiting Cardinal

by John Tobias

Gallery: AvianPosted June 14, 201175 views4 comments
A pair of cardinals were visiting our backyard for a time this spring. Could not resist trying to get decent shots of them. Each time either landed in this bush the resident robins let it be known they were not welcome. Most of the time there were too many small branches in front of the cardinal, but finally he moved to a more photogenic spot. Relatively large crop.

Canon T1i
1/320 @ F9 ISO 200
EF70-300 IS USM @ 300
IS on HH spot meter

Comments

4 comments
Comment posted by David Sparks on June 14, 2011 at 5:19 PM
Good work getting this beauty in the open. Nice pose and eye contact too. I think you could bring out a lot more detail if you selectively reduced the brightness of the reds on the belly and head. I would play with saturation in these areas too. You have nice detail in the blacks surrounding the bill.
Registered on May 26, 2007, 290 Posts, 4270 Comments
Comment posted by Angela McCain on June 15, 2011 at 12:01 AM
Aren't cardinals magnificent in their colors. I know you must have enjoyed them. That same lovely red can be so hard to tame in camera. I find I always have to adjust them in post-processing by selectively reducing the reds. You'll be amazed at the detail and get your full potential out of this image. Maybe a little more room on the right too.
Registered on April 19, 2009, 367 Posts, 3589 Comments
Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on June 15, 2011 at 3:58 AM
Lovely pose you captured here with this one John, with his wings running straight down as they are kind of makes it look like he's standing to attention ;^)

Interesting for me to see this one and also read the remarks of David and Angela, as it further emphasises the points people made on my Crimson Sunbird shot, yet with a different subject with equally bright reds.
Registered on March 1, 2011, 154 Posts, 2083 Comments
Comment posted by Richard Teller on June 15, 2011 at 12:52 PM
Nice image. I like the the way the bird is stretching and the quizzical look on it's face.
Registered on August 23, 2010, 1162 Posts, 6692 Comments