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House Finch in Late Winter
House Finch in Late Winter
MaryO


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Hidden Gem -- 1,000th Challenge! (Advanced Editing VII*)
Collection: Birds
Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Sigma 100-300mm F/4.0 EX IF HSM for Nikon
Location: Springfield, VA
Date: Mar 2, 2009
Aperture: f/4
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/500
Galleries: Nature, Birds
Date Uploaded: Mar 10, 2009

Not an old shot, but certainly representative of what I shoot often: birds in my own backyard. This little fellow only shows up occasionally so I was lucky to get him on a day when the snow showed him off so well.

PP - converted from RAW, cropped, levels, white balance, dodged eye, cloned out bit of branch, 2nd layer (dodged bird, merged in Multiply mode at 30% transparency), increased contrast, added border, resized, sharpened.

Statistics
Place: 64 out of 1129
Avg (all users): 6.5610
Avg (commenters): 7.3467
Avg (participants): 6.5721
Avg (non-participants): 6.5056
Views since voting: 3297
Views during voting: 750
Votes: 533
Comments: 83
Favorites: 7 (view)


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AuthorThread
01/16/2010 04:48:45 PM
this is beautiful....
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
03/17/2009 10:04:04 PM
Great color against a plain background.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
03/17/2009 07:23:02 PM
Wonderful composition. Great details and focus.
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03/17/2009 06:02:58 PM
Such a pretty little critter! Beautiful!!
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03/17/2009 03:46:48 PM
Wow, great colors and sharpness! If there's one thing I'd change, it'd be extending the DOF so I could see more of those beautiful bits of snow and ice! 8
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03/17/2009 02:58:06 PM
I may have cropped tighter but still an 8 from me.
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03/17/2009 12:44:53 PM
Nice dof - the red is perfect!
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03/17/2009 11:40:25 AM
Great bird shot, the colors pop and the clarity is stunning.
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03/17/2009 11:14:45 AM
like how this came out.
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03/17/2009 02:55:30 AM
Very pretty, love the bokeh and colors.
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03/17/2009 01:30:53 AM
Beautiful little nird, lovely photo.
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03/16/2009 11:14:22 PM
what an amazing little bird! excellent color. detail too
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03/16/2009 06:50:47 PM
Beautiful red with all the gray, nice composition.
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03/16/2009 06:45:33 PM
this is really good, i can easily see this through the selective eye of the water colorist. +1
  Photographer found comment helpful.
03/16/2009 03:33:07 PM
Nice colour, good choice of DOF... a really good shot overall.
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03/16/2009 01:42:29 PM
Beautiful shot, great colour - I know for a fact it's not an easy task to get a shot of these guys - they don't seem to stay still for long!
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03/16/2009 11:22:12 AM
Um... Can you say perfect? Don't know how I scored this an 8 on the first pass - bumping up to 10 and Favorite. Just beautiful!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
03/16/2009 10:19:23 AM
Nice capture, I like the way the finch is sharper than the rest of the photograph. Makes the subject stand out.
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03/16/2009 05:39:36 AM
fantastic dof and focus on the bird, great vibrant colour
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03/15/2009 08:49:01 PM
Great detail on the finch - nice crop
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03/15/2009 08:32:42 PM
Beautifully composed. Great shot.
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03/15/2009 04:54:29 PM
Beautiful bird...the red colorings really lift your spirits on a cold winter day. The catch-light in the eye gives this photo life!
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03/15/2009 01:54:53 PM
Simple yet good.
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03/15/2009 01:22:26 PM
Excellent shot, grea sharpness and detail with wonderful composition.
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03/15/2009 01:15:38 PM
The sharp focus and DOF helps to balance out the very strong branch element and the finch. Very nice image.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
03/15/2009 09:39:23 AM
Nice job. Bird is very sharp.
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03/15/2009 08:56:18 AM
Beautiful colour and exposure, nice.

Back to vote, I gave this an 8.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
03/15/2009 08:24:34 AM
Beautiful and detailed winter photo of this colorful bird.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
03/15/2009 05:20:56 AM
did you erase something from the left side ? never mind its beautiful


cheers,
brano ;D
  Photographer found comment helpful.
03/14/2009 09:47:17 PM
gorgeous! I love taking bird photos so I know how tough these can be. Sharpness is perfect, shallow dof really helps, and he is framed by the tree...add in the snow and you cannot ask for a better finch shot! 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
03/14/2009 08:39:47 PM
Perfection!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
03/14/2009 07:33:41 PM
DOF could be more.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
03/14/2009 01:57:43 PM
Wonderful winter capture. 7.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
03/14/2009 01:08:36 PM
Perfect DOF. Well composed, I like the colors.
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03/14/2009 11:38:08 AM
Delightful image of this little finch. 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
03/14/2009 10:23:22 AM
Audubon-esque!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
03/14/2009 10:13:34 AM
Very, very nice! I hope you don't get hit for having the tree branch OOF. One thought--have you tried cropping it in a little more from the right? The branch adds a nice diagonal to the picture, but I'm not convinced that you need to much of it. Try leaving the height the same, and crop of 1/4 to 1/3 of the branch and see what you think... - 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
03/14/2009 08:22:30 AM
Original bird photo - the red splash still draws by attention even though the composition is still elegant and not squared up with the bird in the centre.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
03/14/2009 05:06:35 AM
good focus, though eye looks a bit oversharpened. bit too much of the branch at right side IMO
  Photographer found comment helpful.
03/14/2009 04:30:36 AM
excellent captured, bird well positioned, excellent details, nice bokeh, 8
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03/14/2009 12:47:43 AM
Great clarity and the colour of the bird really pops
  Photographer found comment helpful.
03/13/2009 08:29:44 PM
You did a nice job capturing feather detail. These little guys are full of movement. It was a good catch.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
03/13/2009 07:30:37 PM
Lovely colors! This could be a postcard or calendar shot!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
03/13/2009 07:25:45 PM
Great colors, very nice picture!
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03/13/2009 06:58:52 PM
wonderful pop of red!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
03/13/2009 04:48:11 PM
Beautiful Audubon-style capture. Exceptional detail in the bird, the red really pops! 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
03/13/2009 04:11:53 PM
Very well done. This was not an easy shot to get the proper exposure and focus.
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03/13/2009 12:35:56 PM
Beautiful little bird
  Photographer found comment helpful.
03/13/2009 10:56:13 AM
Lovely focus and detail. Good composition as well.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
03/13/2009 10:19:03 AM
You did good. Could crop off about 1/4 for the right side and it would be much better IMHO.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
03/13/2009 10:02:51 AM
very good dof
  Photographer found comment helpful.
03/13/2009 03:03:34 AM
Wonderful nature shot. That red against the white snow is awesome.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
03/13/2009 12:20:40 AM
Dof mades bird more vivid .
  Photographer found comment helpful.
03/12/2009 10:58:24 PM
The bird really stands out. Nice focus.
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03/12/2009 09:44:38 PM
stunning colors and crispness
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03/12/2009 08:05:33 PM
Nice and sharp on the little bird... with good details in his feathers. I like the leading line of the branch... I'm sure all will not though.

Not voting yet.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
03/12/2009 07:16:05 PM
nice framing with the branches, like the detail in the wings
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03/12/2009 06:29:46 PM
nice detail and color on the bird
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03/12/2009 02:38:19 PM
Nice shot. Very crisp and clear.
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03/12/2009 01:05:16 PM
Beautiful. 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
03/12/2009 12:00:01 PM
stunning image ... the creamy winter bokeh really makes the finch pop off of the page ...
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03/12/2009 11:55:56 AM
Wonderful composition. The colors are just perfect, as is the dof. The diagona branch really leads the eye to the very rewarding birdie :-)
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03/12/2009 11:11:24 AM
great composition, wonderful shot.
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03/12/2009 10:41:36 AM
Nice
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03/12/2009 09:59:28 AM
Great detail. Nice and crisp.
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03/12/2009 07:47:06 AM
like the composition
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03/12/2009 07:27:01 AM
Beautiful bird & very nice color!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
03/11/2009 10:36:40 PM
great capture of the little guy
  Photographer found comment helpful.
03/11/2009 10:27:18 PM
Nice capture! It would only be nicer if it were cropped closer. IMHO
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03/11/2009 09:51:36 PM
Nice colors and well placed subject
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03/11/2009 09:35:49 PM
simple, clean, sharp, peaceful ... not an easy catch no matter what the season ... very interesting DOF and background ... overall very well composed.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
03/11/2009 07:49:23 PM
Beautifully done! Great detail and color. Composition is great. 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
03/11/2009 07:37:29 PM
This is the best bird so far - its much more diff in the nature - well done
  Photographer found comment helpful.
03/11/2009 06:35:52 PM
Wow, look at the beautiful details you can see from the individual feathers on the wings to the soft downy texture of the brown/grey feathers just above the wing...and ice crystals on the tree branch!!! The splash of color with that bold red head on the finch brings some vibrancy to a cold winter scene. Love that you also caught some nice catchlight in the eye as well as the bokeh of the winter branches in the backdrop that complete this winter scene.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
03/11/2009 05:35:05 PM
Beautiful focus and birdy. Nice colors.
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03/11/2009 04:32:44 PM
Beautiful shot. Great clarity.
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03/11/2009 03:37:40 PM
Oh how dear! I love his pop of red and the sharpness of his little eye. 7
  Photographer found comment helpful.
03/11/2009 02:50:19 PM
really like photos with birds and winter...another high mark
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03/11/2009 12:35:57 PM
Nice capture, very sharp. Hard to do with those little guys.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
03/11/2009 12:09:35 PM
Stunning colours and pin sharp. Excellent picture.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
03/11/2009 08:19:35 AM
nice
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03/11/2009 02:36:11 AM
more birds .. and a cute one at that.. nice capture
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03/11/2009 12:50:30 AM
Beautiful, love the color of the bird against the back ground.
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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