House Finch (Female)

This looks like a female House Finch to me as a female Purple Finch usually has a couple of white marks on the face as well. The head doesn't look quite tack sharp to me, I think the focus point may have been on the back, stopping down a bit more probably would have helped there. I like the bg.

Hi Greg,

The head is slightly soft, but the rest of the bird has some nice feather detail and yes that background is nice and soft, perfect for this bird. Nate is correct on his assessment of the ID. Female purple finches have a strongly patterned face with a much bigger beak..............Jim

Nice profile of a cold-looking bird. As far as sharpness goes, in general, it looks pretty good, but the focus does look like it's closer than the head. Part of the perception of sharpness lies in the contrast in small parts of the image. Accentuating small differences in brightness in a curves adjustment can create more contrast, but it's easier to do with the clarity slider in ACR, or plug-ins like Topaz Clarity or what some other plug-ins call structure, if you don't overdo it.

P.S. Difficult ID when you can't compare species, but something to help is that the house finch is pale around the eye, whereas the purple finch is quite dark around the eye.

Does look a bit soft. Was your car engine on? I also have had trouble between the ID of the purple finch and the house finch. Thanks for sharing.

I appreciate the comments and suggestions from all of you. I took a lot of pictures that day and shut my car off at times and other times did not. I downloaded a plug-in to LR that shows my focus point and it was on the center of the wing about an inch or so below and behind the eye. I get stuck sometimes wanting the shallowest DoF possible and forget to make adjustments.

Thanks again,
I'll keep trying.

That's the attitude. Keep listening to advice and keep trying. You are getting better. It's a journey.

Hi Greg, you have gotten some good solid advice already on this shot. I find the background pleasing and the yes the head is a little soft but you will figure this out. Keep shooting and posting.

Hello Greg, not much I can add to what already has been said, and we all sometimes forget to check settings in the heat of the moment. I am not sure since I use Nikon gear, but I often use the little joystick-like button on the back of my camera to move the AF point across the view finer, which works perfectly with sitting birds. Hope this helps ! Look forward to your next post ! Cheers, Hans

Hello Greg, not much I can add to what already has been said, and we all sometimes forget to check settings in the heat of the moment. I am not sure since I use Nikon gear, but I often use the little joystick-like button on the back of my camera to move the AF point across the view finer, which works perfectly with sitting birds. Hope this helps ! Look forward to your next post ! Cheers, Hans

Greg,
I just want to acknowledge looking at your sweet shot. You received an amazing amount of quality feedback. Isn't NPN wonderful?