Purple Finch at Pond

Image Critiques Avian Critiques
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Critique Style Requested: Standard

The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.

Description

I got my ponds and drips set up Wednesday afternoon and spent quite a bit of time in my blind yesterday. This male Purple Finch was one of my earlier customers. He couldn’t make up his mind whether or not to bathe.

Specific Feedback

I did quite a bit of debris cleanup on the background (and a bit on the beak) and brought the shadows up a fair amount to create a hint of structure in the background. The light was such that the bird and the rock it was on were lit, but the back of the pond was in shadow. Does the lighting work?

Technical Details

Sony A1, FE 200-600 + 1.4 TC @ 669 mm, tripod with gimbal head, f/9, 1/1250, iso 2500, manual exposure. Processed in LR & PS CC. Cropped to 7716x5550. As mentioned above, lots of cleanup. I reduced the highlights on the bird and increased saturation slightly. Taken yesterday at 8:30 AM.

1 Like
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Nicely done, Dennis. I like the soft lighting, the detail - and look - in the bird and your clean up efforts look spot on.

3

The bird looks very clean, no need for a bath…slightly_smiling_face:…the warm sunlight sets the intricate details and feather patterns off very nicely.

4

Looks like a great set up for songbirds. Am looking forward to splashy bathing photos. The light is really terrific and I love the contrasting colors of the moss and the feathers. Sidelight brings up so much texture, too. Good job cleaning up - I can’t see any obvious blobs or artifacts. The bird’s head position almost looks as if he’s trying to find his reflection.

5

Really nice composition and pose, here Dennis. Awesome.

6

Wonderful!! I love his tentative look! The environment looks completely natural! Details and tonalities are wonderful!! I keep hoping for these guys but maybe I’m out of their range.

7

Wonderful details, light, and pose Dennis. I really like this scene. The green rock makes a great perch. All looks good to me.

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Hi Dennis
The light reflection off the stone does make the lower body of the Finch a bit bright, but there is still good feather detail and the overall framing works.
Peter

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Hi Dennis,

Neat setup! It certainly looks like it will pay off in the coming months.

You did a fine job on the cleanup and the BG looks really good to me. :slight_smile:

And this is my first look at a Purple Finch, at least I think so, I may have seen them before but just didn’t notice. :roll_eyes:

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Well this is strange, I just went outside for a bit and along came a purple finch, it just sat on one of the feeders for an unusually long period of time, the color was a deep purple, almost red but not quite.
I know I haven’t seen one before because I would remember such an eye catching color.

That was a serious coincidence.

1 Like