Male Purple Finch

Image Critiques Avian Critiques
1

Male Purple Finch
Male Purple Finch1457×1500 623 KB

These birds are uncommon here in Oklahoma, and I have been trying for the last three weeks or so to capture an image with which I could be happy. This is the best I’ve gotten, so far though I haven’t stopped trying to do better.

Specific Feedback Requested

Any. Does the image need to be a bit darker?

Technical Details

Is this a composite: No
Canon 60D, Canon 70-300mm IS USM zoom, f/5.6, 1/500 sec., ISO 1000, Av Mode, Hand Held. Processed in ACR, Topaz De-noise, and PSE 2020 for exposure, color, sharpness, and NR.

1 Like
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This is well done with good detail, perch, and background. One of your better images. I am not a fan of square crop so I would drop the top part of the frame putting the bird in the upper right third of the image.

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3

Thanks, David. I’m pleased you think so. Ha! I liked the crop, for a change! :grinning: I’ll play around with it and see what I can come up with.

4

Nice shot. Good pose, bg, and perch. Sharp and well exposed. We are supposed to get Purple Finches around here but all I see are House Finches. It is nice to see one.

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5

Thanks, David. This is the first year I’ve ever seen them, though it may be that I just haven’t been observant enough in the past. They are certainly worth seeing. I have a handful of them around, including about the same amount of females. I’ll post a female later. Hope you get to see some at some point.

6

What a cute bird! I love the pose, perch and background! Nice details in the eye and feathers! I personally like the square crop! I like animals front and center even though nobody else does!

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7

Thanks, Vanessa. Though beautiful, photos don’t do them justice. That raspberry color (it isn’t purple!) really catches the eye. I seldom crop squarely, but thought it fit here. However, I also don’t disagree with David I could take some of the top.

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8

I’m not sure if I have ever seen one. Only the House Finches and I always called them Purple Finches but then realized they’re not!

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9

We have plenty of House Finches around here, too. I think if you ever saw a Purple Finch, you would realize immediately it’s a different bird.

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10

A nice job on this one, Terry. Good detail and the color looks very accurate. I like the pose which has a lot of “potential energy”. I also like that you have the whole perch in focus and a nice background. This crop seems to work pretty well, though I do think one with less room on top and more on the left would also work. We get a mix of these and House finches. It seems as if they kind of alternate summer/winter here and some years it’s all one. We also used to get Cassin’s Finches pretty regularly, but I haven’t seen one in a few years.

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Thanks, Dennis. The range maps don’t show we get Cassin’s Finches here. Looking at the photos, I’m not sure I could distinguish it from the Purple Finch!

12

The raspberry color has some nice pop to it. House finches are an entitrely different berry flavor :slight_smile: . This image has one of your best backgrounds and I like the colors of your image. Well done…Jim

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13

Ha! All this berry talk is makin’ me hangry! Thanks, Jim.

14

Hi Terry, nice catch of the finch in a fine pose. I like the colors you have captured. I’d adjust the crop to be more horizontal with room in front of the bird. To my eyes, the feather detail on the bird is rather lacking in the largest version.

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Thanks, Allen. Yeah, it’s not the sharpest photo I’ve ever captured. Taken in very low light, and he was on the move.