American Goldfinch

[JayJay65]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8584435@N07/1056544699/

American Goldfinch Facts

- Only finch subfamily who molts
- Usually has 1 partner during mating
- Sunflowers contain carotenoid pigments which give the male its bright color
- Male = bright yellow, Female = dullish yellow-brown color
- During mating season the male shows off bright plumage to attract a mate, while the female slightly brightens her color only during mating season
- Have one brood a year

 

[JayJay65]

No comments?

 

[elsaspet]

In this section of critique this would be the final image, right?
If that is the case, you missed it on your crop. Crop RIGHT INTO the subject of the photo, in this case the flower and bird. If you do that, it will be stunning.
However, if you were to be judged as a final photo, it would fall flat. I'm sorry.
Try the crop.

 

[JayJay65]

I will allow editing, please show some examples..

I know this, but im trying to break out of my habit of always having the subject centered in the middle..

 

[The_Traveler]

Something like this I think

 

[GacAttack]

Unless your using film or a top-of-the-line DSLR, this picture is lost. I totally agree that the finch should have been isolated with only the tops of a few flowers. You can't take that crop with any meaningful resolution at this point.

I would have composed the shot to place the finch in the upper-left third of a tightly framed landscape with a long lens (maybe 200mm) and an aperature just able to keep the whole finch in focus but loose the background foliage. I then would have taken it to photoshop and probably bumbed up the constrast and saturation a little, and I would have at least taken a look at it after adjusting the hue of the finch's yellow to match or approach the hue of the sunflowers.