Hooded Grosbeak

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I always look forward to these guys showing up in the neighborhood. Not only are they fine looking but they are my favorite whistlers locally here. I thought about desaturating the yellows in the background some but I kinda like the circus atmosphere it gives. Warm bird, warm BG. What say you? D500, 1/2500th, f/7.1, ISO 6400, 500mm, cropped to 3450 x 2754, hand held, AI Clear

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Very nice capture here, Dave. I like the cleanliness in the image. I think you have done well composing this image. I belong to the camp that will desaturate the BG a little bit to make the bird pops but if you want to keep the yellow in the BG, I will definitely recommend at least desaturating the blue.

Good job on the perch, pose, and color. I agree with Adhika regarding the background saturation as it competes with the bird for attention. You could individually decrease the saturation with the HSL panel quite easily. This does appear to be a slightly large crop which results in some image quality degradation noted in the larger image…

Nice composition and eye contact Dave, I agree with the other comments regarding saturation.

The greens immediately around the Black-headed Grosbeak don’t bother me, Dave, but the brighter ones and white patch along the left side of the frame seem a bit too much and tend to pull my eye. The detail int he plumage seems a bit scant, as if your AF caught that lovely perch instead of the lovely bird. Great pose.

Really like the perch. Bird looks pretty good, but I think shooting at ISO 6400 caught up with you here. I would have cranked that ISO and shutter speed way down. BG is too intense for me. I’d decrease the exposure and saturation of the entire BG.