Lesser Goldfinch

Lovely water and sharpness. Not crazy about the rim of the birdbath especially when it goes OOF, in focus, OOF but that's minor and the water compensates well.

- Luke

Nice, Richard. I really like the pose. I've taken quite a few shots of these the last two vacations in the south, but have never been very satisfied with the end result. This one looks positively noble.

Definitely a "grotto" sort of feel to the setting with the subdued lighting, wet look on the bird and the swirling waters. Moody and "groovy"!!! I bet this is a wonderful place to do some bird photography.

Nice catch light in the eye Richard. The small little thumbnail image doesn't do this one justice. Very sharp, nice colors, fluffed up head feathers, good head turn, and he all clean. Just need a towel now. The water colors are perfect. Love the setting Richard. Wish I had a shot of one of these.

Richard,

Often times the thing I like most about your images is the mood that you create with them, and this one is a fine example of that. I like how Gary described it with the "grotto" sort of feel. Love the pose of the bird, its wetness and the light. Fine technicals even under tough conditions, which I have come to expect from you.

A very appealing image as posted.

Really nice detail in the goldfinch and interesting water

Richard:
Terrific shot in tough conditions. Excellent detail in the bird and I really like the smoothed flowing water in the BG. The spot metering allowed you to "expose for the subject" and the selection of f/5.6 in aperture priority mode gave you a shutter speed that smoothed the water. I'm just thinking out loud here trying to imagine your thought process when you were taking the photo.

How sweet. Great dof and detail on the bird. I like the moving water as well.

The spot metering allowed you to "expose for the subject" and the selection of f/5.6 in aperture priority mode gave you a shutter speed that smoothed the water. I'm just thinking out loud here trying to imagine your thought process when you were taking the photo.

Actually, not much thought process involved when I'm shooting. I'm pretty much on auto pilot, concentrating on the subject and not on the gear. I set my ISO when I start each morning, usually at ISO 400 since I know I get good image quality if I expose correctly at this value. Wide open at f/5.6 since that maximizes my shutter speed. Aperture priority auto exposure because that's how I've always shot my Nikon cameras since the days of the Nikkormat EL. When I've got tricky light or am worried about bright areas in the background I pull in the spot meter - I've got the programable button on the front of the D200 set to that function and I often just use it without even thinking any more.

I keep my eye to the viewfinder and watch the subject, making sure I've got my focus point where I need it. I can see my shutter speed in the viewfinder so I can tell if I need to adjust the ISO.

This does have a "grotto" feel to it. The finch looks great and I like the colors in the water. I also enjoyed reading your shooting "philosophy" in your second comment Rich.