Female Northern Cardinal

[Dennis Zaebst]

Taken recently at the edge of the woods in my back yard, from my deck. There were just a few leaves left on the bushes, which show in the BG. It was just after sunset and partly cloudy, which required a slow shutter speed. Fortunately, the cardinal posed for me for about 15 seconds or so!

1D Mark IV; ISO 800; 500 mm f/4L IS + EF 1.4x TC; f/7.1 @ 1/50 sec., on a Gitzo 1320 CF tripod and gimbal head. PP in LR 4.2, luminance smoothing on BG, moderate sharpening of bird only. This was a moderate crop as the bird was about 35-40 feet away, and I was focal length limited.


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[Nick Palmieri]

Nice detail in the bird. Nice perch. Debating if toning the BG leaves down a bit would improve it. TFS

[John Cooper]

Thats a very nice capture from your back deck Dennis - good thing she remained still for you in such low light! Very cute bird and the green leaves in the BG make a nice addition to the composition.

[dankearl]

I like the BG.
It seems a bit cramped, I think a bit more above would look nice.

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Lovely image and pose. I think that the left side of the bg is a bit distracting, possibly due to the vertical stem.

[Petros Petrou]

Good sharpness and detail for such a low SS. I like the eye contact and the OOF leaves of the BG. I would however remove the OOF vertical stem.