Female Cardinal

[debrown]

Brrrrr, it has really been cold the last couple of days and my feeders are being emptied twice a day but I love the activity and I especially like the female cardinals!!

Nikon D300 w/Nikon 200-400mm lens at f8 and 1/250 and ISO 400 with flash...Taken from my doorway where I camped out until my wife made me close the door because she was freezing!!!

[Photobiologist]

Boy, the birds HAVE been busy emptying feeders!

Neat capture. I like the way you managed to get the tail in that little hole in the bushes...and get the good head turn with eye contact!

Maybe your wife will let you camp out with the open door some more today...

[mrsisu]

Nice shot and agree that nice that able to keep the tail clean in between the branches. I wonder how it would look if most of the bright area on the top were cropped out with the overall crop still allowing the bird to look off to the right. Love the image and hope you can keep the door open some more!

[debrown]

Yeh, I did darken the corners (including the bright areas in the upper left) a bit and felt that the area could use a bit more softening!!

[rpk717]

Nice image Don, only nit I have are the bright spots. Did you give Shadows & Highlights a try? Could brighten up the dark areas and tone down the spots.