Syed -

This male cardinal with its red feathers really stands out against the pastel colors all around him.

You don't mention any specifics but this looks like a telephoto lens that was shot wide open, leaving a restricted DOF, which again intensifies the contrast between the branches, which are in focus - along with the bird - and the background.

Cardinals aren't known for being overly assertive like say a jay but this one seems to have a somewhat condescending attitude about him the way he's looking down from his elevated vantage point of his.

It's a real shame that small branch got in the way. If this wasn't such a snooty little cardinal maybe he'd have cooperated a little bit and scooted up that branch so you could get a perfect shot.

-leon

Leon Plympton wrote:
> Syed -
>
> This male cardinal with its red feathers really stands out against the pastel colors all around him.
>
> You don't mention any specifics but this looks like a telephoto lens that was shot wide open,
> leaving a restricted DOF, which again intensifies the contrast between the branches, which
> are in focus - along with the bird - and the background.
>
> Cardinals aren't known for being overly assertive like say a jay but this one seems to have
> a somewhat condescending attitude about him the way he's looking down from his elevated vantage
> point of his.
>
> It's a real shame that small branch got in the way. If this wasn't such a snooty little cardinal
> maybe he'd have cooperated a little bit and scooted up that branch so you could get a perfect shot.
>
> -leon
>
Thanks Leon for your comments.Yes you are right i used vivitar 210mm lens with a 2X converter with aperture @ 2.8.
And about the cardinals to me they are very active and alert and keep jumping around here and there and as soon as they suspect that somebody is watching them they fly right away so it's difficult to catch them thats why the small branch is there badluck.
Regards.
SSAN

Shelley O'Connell wrote:
> Hi Syed,
>
> There is a Cardinal outside my window who does fly away whenever I get set up to photograph it.
> One evening I used a bird call from a stuffed toy Cardinal and he was hopping from one branch
> to the other trying to determine what it was. Did not get a photo like this one though. Great catch!
>
> Shelley
>
Thanks Shelley for looking,commenting and rating,i appreciate it.
Yes it's true as i mentioned to Leon that these cardinals are very difficult to photograph because they don't keep still and they are very suspicious.I take these photos handheld so sometimes you get lucky and you have more chance.
Regards
SSAN