They're back!

Gallery: AvianPosted April 21, 2014140 views9 comments

Actually, the first Goldfinches showed up a few weeks ago, but for some reason they were slow to accumulate this year. Yesterday we reached the "difficult to count" point on the backyard population (still mostly males).

1Div, 500mm f4 ISL + 2.0TC, Jobu Gimbal on RRS legs, f8, 1/1000, iso 500, -2/3 compensation, aperture priority. Processed in LR5 & CS6. A large crop on this one as they're not completely used to the local paparazzi yet. Final size was 4.2MP of the original 16. Taken at 3:12 pm under lightly filtered sun, so I burned some hot areas of the perch.

Your comments and criticisms are always appreciated.

Thanks for looking,

Comments

9 comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on April 21, 2014 at 8:15 PM

I like the 'chunky' perch, it kinda fits with the 'chunky' look of this GF

I have a few around here now, but none with the well defined black cap & solid yellow..
The out of the box comp works for me, rules are made to be broken.
Very nice Dennis!

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by Scott Frye on April 21, 2014 at 10:27 PM

Finch looks good but too much empty space on the right and the perch goes oof on the left -- I wonder about a vertical crop -- it will keep the sharp part of the branch in the picture and put emphasis back on the bird

Registered on February 3, 2007, 387 Posts, 1136 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on April 22, 2014 at 1:48 AM

Beautiful - the few back here are quite dull without any of the bright yellows (yet, I hope)
Fine detail, pose, and perch.
I agree about the dead space - a tighter crop, if you have the pixels, or a vertical crop might work well.
Great work!
Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Cloran on April 22, 2014 at 8:13 AM

A handsome fellow. I wish he gave you just a touch more of a head turn to get the bill of the shoulder line, but still very nice as is. I'm inclined to agree with the others on a tighter crop. The BG is just about perfect. Good job.

Registered on April 6, 2004, 119 Posts, 1989 Comments

Comment posted by Matt Shellenberg on April 22, 2014 at 8:36 AM

Looks like a slight loss of image quality due to the large crop, but more than acceptable Dennis. Nice job with the exposure. These guys are tough to shoot without blowing the yellows. I have Goldfinches here all winter, but they are just starting to get there full breeding colors.

Registered on February 6, 2008, 168 Posts, 3118 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on April 22, 2014 at 4:13 PM

A handsome fellow you have here Dennis

Nice background. I would love some time with these guys too.

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

Comment posted by May Haga on April 22, 2014 at 10:38 PM

He looks a little sad. Very nice.
May

Registered on February 22, 2007, 714 Posts, 8470 Comments

Comment posted by David Haynes on April 23, 2014 at 9:51 PM

Dennis,
Nice detail for such a large crop. The crop you've chosen is growing on me the more I look at it but I think a vertical might work better although that large knob to the left of the bird might consume the scene if you went vertical. Lovely scene no matter.

Registered on February 20, 2010, 110 Posts, 1511 Comments

Comment posted by Hans Overduin on April 24, 2014 at 2:11 PM

The yellow makes the bird really stands out against this darker BG. Wish it would have been looking towards the camera, or more to the right - but otherwise a great shot. Maybe you could try a different crop? cheers,

, Hans

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