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Painted Lady


Painted Lady
Photo Information
Copyright: Lesley Mattuchio (Lesley) Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 297 W: 13 N: 913] (2988)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2004-12-31
Categories: Birds
Camera: Canon EOS 1D Mark II, Canon EF100-400 IS
Exposure: f/5.6, 1/200 seconds
Details: (Fill) Flash: Yes
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2005-01-08 12:22
Viewed: 1974
Favorites: 3 [view]
Points: 42
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
This is another lovely lady in my Northern Cardinal series. I guess I don't think a great deal about it, but just as we humans all look very different from each other giving us our own physical identity, so do the birds. As I mentioned in an early post , there were six brilliant males hanging about the thicket I was photographing, but there was also 2 females. The interesting thing about these two ladies is that physically they were very different from each other. The one I posted last week was a softer more golden tone, but this female pictured here was more green with a striking red on her crest, wings, and tail. her beak looked like she had just applied a luscious layer of lipstick. She was definitely all decked out to be presented to her adoring male audience.

I have noticed that even though it isn't quite the middle of winter here in this part of the world and it is snowing away as I type this, the birds, not just the Cardinals, are starting to "color up" or come into their breeding plumage. The Goldfinches are changing from a drab olive tan into a golden yellow around the head and will eventually become a brillaint clear canary yellow ( males). I do enjoy seeing this start to happen as for me it is almost like seeing a sign of Spring.

I used fill flash for this image of the Painted Lady to get a catch light in her eye, but her underbelly is illuminated by the snow on the ground reflecting upward. It's a natural alternative to having someone lay underneath with a reflector which is obviously not possible in a nature setting. I think it is good to see what or how you can use natural light in any given situation when shooting wildlife.
willie, carper, Signal-Womb, pompey, Crypton, extramundi, Lourens, bartove, rlortie, sandpiper2, JeanMichel, milloup, deud, gerhardt has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To milloup: Cropped BrushLesley 1 01-11 07:19
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Critiques [Translate]

Great shot Lesley. I like the dark out of focus background producing a contrast to the bird colors. Your notes are well researched also. Always a pleasure to see your work.

  • Great 
  • willie Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1023 W: 61 N: 648] (2083)
  • [2005-01-08 12:52]

Pretty Lesley. Very nice composition with Good DOF and POV. Well done

  • Great 
  • carper Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2192 W: 124 N: 2600] (8410)
  • [2005-01-08 13:04]

Wauw Lesley I like this shot,
Fantastic shot, great colours, fantastic composing shot,the shatpnes is great, fantastic pof and dof, great note, very good job Lesley

Beautiful little bird Lesley its red markings are very appealing. Less space to the left may have worked better for the overall composition. Good post.

  • Great 
  • pompey Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 205 W: 4 N: 780] (2762)
  • [2005-01-08 13:21]

Another winner Lesley, she is a beauty.
Beautiful colours and great background.
The red berries certainly compliment the bird.
Good note also.
Well spotted!

comme d'habitude la photo est exellente!
les baies rouges rappellent le rouge de l'oiseau.
very good job.

I like this lady :) Very very nice colours.

Thank you Lesley :)

Nice colour, DOF and details. Beautiful wark lighting-PP
The composition looks like a painting. Why not a little frame to contrast with the brown BG? It would be nice.

Superb image, Lesley. Beautifull bird. Thanks for posting.

Beautiful bird Lesley, great colours with the red berries.Thank you Lesley

Another very good picture Lesley. The different touches of red on the bird and on the tree are very eye catching. Your note, as always, tells an interesting story. I noticed too that the cardinals (a few miles up North) are becoming more colorful in my backyard. Yes! Spring is coming...

I'm enjoying your cardinal series and this one is no exception. Not as flashy as the males, but your photographic skill and composition makes it worthwhile viewing. Very nice note to.

Your note about color changes and lighting is very interesting, Lesley. You managed very well flash and snow reflection to place this beautiful lady as a star in the limelight. Shooting your subject in the right light, environment and background color is an artistic quality I've noticed in most of your shots. It's particularly obvious here, if you add the red bays reminders and the background to match this lady's make up. Beautiful image indeed.

Composition: *****
Sharpness: ***
Color: ****
DOF: ***
POV: ****

Another great shot of this beautiful bird.
Great colors.
Well done.
TFS.

She certainly looks as if she's "all dressed up (and nowhere to go)" - but with six potential beaux hanging around this surely couldn't be the case.. ;-))
Another beautiful, tack-sharp capture with excellent light. Only nit would be that those two branches look as if they've been cropped on purpose - were they? ;-)

  • Great 
  • japie Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1814 W: 100 N: 1904] (5187)
  • [2005-01-09 16:03]

This is incredible Lesley. The colors, exposure and sharpness here is perfect, add it in to this composition and you have a winner.

Excellent job and thanks for posting.

My God Lesley, you never run of romantism ! Always admired the way you flirt with beauty !

  • Great 
  • deud Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 498 W: 2 N: 464] (2157)
  • [2005-01-10 9:43]

great. i love more than else, the red fruits on the branch. they makes all shot!!!

De toute beauté cette photo. Conposition: 5 /
Couleurs: 5 / Netteté: 4 / DOF: 4 / POV: 4 /
Général Exellant!

Excellent picture. The white snow on the ground acted as a wide white cardboard to soften the light below and around the bird. It is pretty close to a studio photo when we have control of the lighting. I call this nice light painting on a subject which is generally hard to control.
The red spots in the branches match with the red spot of the bird. Without them, the picture would have been less appealing

I guess this is not a WOW! shot. :) Certainly is. These cardinals are such lovely critters. I never had an idea, they are so diverse in colours. This one is even nicer that the red cardinal. I love the contrasts and those red berries helps to add a nice touch. Very wel done on this great capture, Lesley.

  • Great 
  • Callie Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1243 W: 106 N: 2606] (7501)
  • [2005-01-14 13:32]

I hate it when I am in the tail end of coments, but Have to post less if I want to keep up. This one already caught my attention in the thumbnail, and she is again a beautiful birdie, well caught
She has a painterly look, and a magic BG, well done.
As an asside, I this was my picture, and I posted it at my old camera club, they would have nailed me because the branch was cut, pruned, hens the "hand of man". Comments like this made me quit at the camera clubs. We shoot them in theenvironment,this is where they live, in our gardens, well, yours, not mine, wish they were here too.
TFS, a sweet little girl she is.

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