Flowering Dogwood

Gallery: AvianPosted March 11, 2011178 views10 comments

One of the first signs of Spring in Central Texas is when the Flowering Dogwood trees blossom..This female Cardinal seems happy to see these first flowers, a harbinger of Spring. I also photographed some of the smaller birds eating at the flowers center, a bit of behavior I'd not seen before..Perhaps a bit busy, but nice-n-springy hey

F/7.1, 1/800th, ISO 640, 1D M3, 300mm f/2.8 + 1.4x and overcast.
Approx. 80% FF.

Comments

10 comments

Comment posted by Ron Pullen on March 11, 2011 at 8:17 AM

Great detail in this beautiful female with an excellent comp. too. Keep it up, Howard. Ron

Registered on December 18, 2005, 74 Posts, 1413 Comments

Comment posted by Barbara Graham on March 11, 2011 at 10:45 AM

Howard, I think this is a beautiful shot. I hope this isn't sexist, but to see this great shot of this beautiful female with the pretty flowers works really, really well for me. She looks really sweet. I apologize for all the anthropomorphism, but those are the thoughts I had as soon as I looked at this. If you wanted to you could crop just a bit off the bottom and decrease the busyness a bit and still have plenty of room for the lower right flower. Beautiful detail on the bird.

Registered on July 27, 2010, 1310 Posts, 5035 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on March 11, 2011 at 1:47 PM

Excellent. I love the three dimensionality of this.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on March 11, 2011 at 1:57 PM

Wonderful composition, good look from the bird and the perch with flowers adds a nice touch, way to go.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by Monica Siri on March 11, 2011 at 2:03 PM

Howard,
beautiful looking bird in a very nice spring setting. Great comp and detail.

Registered on September 20, 2009, 132 Posts, 3764 Comments

Comment posted by Jenaya Launstein on March 11, 2011 at 2:23 PM

I really like her pose, the detail, the way her colours stand out against the gray background, and having the blossoms in there is a nice little bonus. I love it!

Registered on February 8, 2011, 254 Posts, 1302 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Teller on March 11, 2011 at 4:22 PM

Nice comp., color and perch. The background works very well also.

Registered on August 23, 2010, 1162 Posts, 6692 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Balke on March 11, 2011 at 7:55 PM

I think it's a beautiful shot, Howard. Fine looking bird captured in an attentive pose with lovely Spring flowers. My only nit is the OOF flower below the bird. You could consider cloning it out: removing the flower and the branch beneath it.

Registered on June 18, 2009, 229 Posts, 2915 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on March 11, 2011 at 10:29 PM

I like it a lot Howard. The comp is really nice and I like the flowers on the right a great deal. The flower out of focus under the feet is a bit distracting but it would be one heck of a cloning job. Nice image.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Marquart on March 12, 2011 at 7:30 PM

Great detail in the bird Howard, nice job catching her with the dogwood flowers, and I like the idea or effect of the plain OOF background but on a natural perch.

Registered on October 24, 2009, 126 Posts, 799 Comments