Male Cardinal

Gallery: AvianPosted January 24, 2013172 views14 comments

Cardinals haven't been around much. Now that it's gotten colder and we have another light covering of snow they are coming to the feeder.

This a horizontal crop from a vertical image. I had to back off a bit since the Blue Jays were coming in also and I couldn't get a full image.

I pulled the reds back about 15, burned the stump, and ran noise reduction and a little blur on the background. It was several stops darker than the perch and the ISO was a little higher than I would normally use.

5D3
400 2.8 w/1.4 extender
ISO 800
1/1600 @ f6.3
Abour 50% of the frame

Thoughts, comments, and critiques are appreciated.

Thanks for looking.

Comments

14 comments

Comment posted by Craig Strand on January 24, 2013 at 6:50 PM

One of the best cardinal images I have seen in awhile. You have to love the pose, perch and BG. My only question is if a bit higher F stop would have added a bit more DOF in the tail?
Great capture as is, congrats!

Registered on March 30, 2008, 416 Posts, 2885 Comments

Comment posted by Keith Tate on January 24, 2013 at 6:54 PM

I will agree that is a great perch and pose,,, well done shot!!

Registered on December 11, 2004, 150 Posts, 1667 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on January 24, 2013 at 9:43 PM

The red bird really pops against the smooth grey background. I like the little bit of snow, more would be even "better". I agree with Craig that a bit more dof would help, but I was more concerned for better focus in the stump. The bird's head and body are impressively sharp though and nice job getting detail in the darkest areas of the face.

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on January 24, 2013 at 11:02 PM

nice one, Jerry. cool perch and bg, to go with the good looking bird. dof is fine for me, the detail in the body and face is very good.

Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments

Comment posted by John Launstein on January 25, 2013 at 4:23 AM

Jerry: what a cool image! The bold colour of the seemingly proud cardinal stand out in stark drama against the greys of the background. Technically excellent, great perch, perfect light to help create the mood and drama...all capped off by a great pose from your colourful subject. Nicely photographed and processed.

Registered on April 5, 2011, 223 Posts, 1193 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on January 25, 2013 at 9:24 AM

Great alert pose you captured of this handsome fellow Jerry. Nice perch and the background compliments the bird nicely.

Sweet Photo!!!

Ken Archer

Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments

Comment posted by James Allen on January 25, 2013 at 10:31 AM

Gorgeous perch and you chose the processing very well. Excellent pose and presentation of the cardinal Jerry!

Registered on December 10, 2012, 14 Posts, 232 Comments

Comment posted by Christine Adams on January 25, 2013 at 10:51 AM

I'm a sucker for cardinals! And this one isreally nice. Love the BG and the weather worn perch.

Registered on January 24, 2006, 119 Posts, 1871 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on January 25, 2013 at 11:08 AM

Nice subject, perch, and overall setting. I like the pose. IMO the reds are still blown on this resulting in the loss of a lot of feather texture in the crest, cheek and belly.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Ralph Yakaboski on January 25, 2013 at 11:32 AM

Nice work on the background, it makes the bird and stump POP. If the image was mine I would not make any more changes. Well done.

Registered on February 4, 2009, 1 Posts, 28 Comments

Comment posted by Sharon Hallowell on January 25, 2013 at 5:53 PM

The pose is wonderful as is the perch. I don't care for the major loss of detail on the belly...Looks like it was there at one point.
Head is nice and sharp and I like that you caught him "crest up"! Sharon

Registered on November 1, 2003, 392 Posts, 4810 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on January 25, 2013 at 11:27 PM

Great pose and perch, Jerry. Nice job on the post processing.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Hans Overduin on January 26, 2013 at 10:25 AM

Amazing shot - wonderful species displaying an excellent pose ! Well done , cheer, Hans

Registered on August 31, 2011, 491 Posts, 3807 Comments

Comment posted by Jerry Marella on January 26, 2013 at 11:34 AM

Thanks for the thoughtful comments and critiques. I do read them and think about how I can make the next photo better. Reds have always been hot with my camera. I think I'm a little hesitant to pull them back too much for fear of washing out some of the not so red areas. I'll try selective desaturation to see if I can get that under control. I usually try to shoot with a fairly high shutter speed because I'm a little shaky, even on a tripod, and the 400 isn't stabalized. High ISO should no longer be a problem unless I have a darker background to deal with, and then it gets a little grainy. A little better f stop may help the fall off in some situations. Every day is an experiment for me so I'll have some fun tuning up my process.

Thanks again.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 142 Posts, 862 Comments