7D2, 500/F4+1.4, F10, 1/2500, ISO 800, tripod.
Thanks for any comments or suggestions, Dave
1 Like
Gorgeous, Dave. Everything is spot on here: The sun angle, the head turn, the perch, the background. Just simply gorgoeous.
Exquisite !!! but - to me - this screams for a vertical comp.
A lot of dead space otherwise.
Even if you didn’t have quite enough stem in the original for a vertical comp, it could very easily be filled in with content-aware.
Where did you find this beauty?
Sandy
Thank You Sandy. I did crop a few to vertical as well. I captured this image at the City of Redding Wastewater Treatment Plant near Redding, Ca. They briefly pass through the area each spring, while the blue grosbeaks breed in the weedy empty ponds.
Dave, In a vertical format, I bet magazines like “Birds and Blooms” would snap this up in a second for their cover photo (if you’re interested).
Sandy
Absolutely no nits here. Excellent image regardless of orientation. The light, clarity, perch, detail, and background cannot be improved.
Wow! This is wonderful, Dave. Great pose and detail and a wonderful bird on a wonderful perch. It doesn’t get much better. I might be tempted to go with a tighter crop, but this one works just fine. Great image.
Fantastic Dave! Everything about it is first class! Well done!
Dave - OF COURSE this got the weekly EP - and will surely be in contention for the yearly picks.
Really exceptional work - congrats!
Sandy
WOW! I’m not sure I would I would change anything. I love the light, the exposure, the head turn and the crop. If you cropped it vertical I’m not sure there would be enough canvas for him to look into to. 
Gorgeous!, well deserved WP!
Nice sharp, well isolated image. Like the composition. Makes me wonder what the bird is looking at.
David,
No nits from me. You may want to go vertical with this one too…Jim
What a great photo! This is one of those images that is instantly attractive, even from the thumbnail.
Hi John, filling in a bit of canvas, if needed, is very easy in this case of a plain BG - using “Content-Aware.”
Sandy
Dave, don’t know why I missed this. It has a kind of high key exposure that gives it a cheerful mood, and I like the dynamic pose. Excellent choice of aperture to get all in sharp focus. Lots to like, and congrats on the EP.
Wow… David, what a dream shot ! Congrats on a well-deserved EP ! Cheers, Hans
Beautiful colours, detail and background. Congrats!
Grt, Ingrid.