Upon a bench of stone
Upon a bench of stone – male Cardinal
Through undergrowth, and at fair a distance, I spotted this male Cardinal taking a load off his wings on this stone bench. He happily sat there while I made numerous shots. I thought of cropping, so as to display him larger, but it seemed more fitting at 300mm, no crop, displaying the surrounding setting — judgement call.

He remained there as I continued my walk.

15 Comments
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mariana
14 years ago

How sweet little red bird I see here ;)
Super lovely compo .

Earl
14 years ago
Reply to  mariana

Hi Mariana, Thank you for your kind words. I hope you’re having a good day.

don
don
14 years ago

I like your decision to keep the larger “setting” view. Nice shot of this bird that is not available in this part of the country.

Earl
14 years ago
Reply to  don

Don, thanks, I’m glad you confirmed the decision about not cropping this image. I didn’t realize there we’re Cardinals in your area.

Monte Stevens
14 years ago

This has a happy, joyful feel to it. Stirs up the desire to take another walk, today. Have a great week!

Earl
14 years ago

Monte, thanks, I thought it had a happy feel to it as well and hey, it’s always a good time to take a walk with camera in hand. :-)

pj
pj
14 years ago

He looks pretty content sitting there, doesn’t he?

Hope you don’t object to a little bit of critique, but to my notion you could have removed a bit of the right side of the image and still showed a good piece of his surroundings. Just my two pennies.

Earl
14 years ago
Reply to  pj

PJ, I don’t object at all and I believe you may well be right. Sometimes I’ll start to feel I’m doing too much to my photos and then I tend to over correct and not do enough. In any case, I appreciate hearing any feedback or critiques. Thanks!

Journey Photographic
14 years ago

I like the way the out-of-focus vines on the left half form a natural frame around the bird and his seat.

Earl
14 years ago

Journey Photo.. Thanks, that’s why I wanted to keep the photo un-cropped. Glad you saw it too.

Tom Devlin
Tom Devlin
14 years ago

Good shot. I find the male cardinals to be a lot more skittish then the females and far less willing to stay in a spot to be photographed.

Earl
14 years ago
Reply to  Tom Devlin

Tom, I’ve also noticed male Cardinals seem more flighty. Perhaps they get chased more by people with cameras. :-)

michael
14 years ago

This is certainly a nice photo, Earl. I know it’s hard not to crop a bird shot if it’s sharp enough. Maybe I’ll have more incentive to not crop my own thinking of this.

BTW, Pygmy is a brand of kayak, not a type.

Earl
14 years ago
Reply to  michael

Michael, thanks.

On the Pygmy kayak…now that makes more sense. Gotta read a little closer! ;-)

Alish Houston
14 years ago

Hey Earl,
Awesome mate. ;-) Red bird ” Cardinal” is superb and you have captured the amazing moment. Can say two birds at a time having the red-color i.e. “Butterfly” and “Cardinal”. Cheers mate! Your nature photography is awesome! Waiting for the new updates of same sort of photography.
Thanks,
Alish :)