Brenda Fishbaugh, QPSA
August 2026 - Goldfinch and Sunflowers
Original
Original 2
About the Image(s)
We traveled to Canada and several northeastern sttes on a trip to visit friends and see Rhode Island (my 47th out of 50 US states). When we were in New Hampshire visiting a Master Gardener friend, I watched this American Goldfinch land on a sunflower and photographed a series.
I thought I'd share my monthly calendar I create with a pic every month.
Photographed 7/17/26 in New Hampshire.
Canon R5II and Canon 200-800 on 1.6x
ISO 4000 800mm 1/3200sec f/9
12 comments posted
It seems like your depth of field was more than sufficient, and that you didn't need to focus stack, which would have been nearly impossible with a live bird as a subject. It would be interesting to know what a depth of field calculator gives for this shot.
I repeatedly find that in many scenes, a faithful reproduction of the colors leaves the color of green vegetation somehow feeling bland. You might try adjusting the green a little. Posted: 08/02/2026 15:54:00
I repeatedly find that in many scenes, a faithful reproduction of the colors leaves the color of green vegetation somehow feeling bland. You might try adjusting the green a little. Posted: 08/02/2026 15:54:00
Thanks, Robert! The minimal f/stop on the 800mm is f/9. And I was actually at 1080mm on crop factor, and then I cropped, as you can see.
I will play with the greens, thanks for the suggestion! Posted: 08/02/2026 15:59:00
I will play with the greens, thanks for the suggestion! Posted: 08/02/2026 15:59:00
This is a beautiful image!! In this image, you capture not only the beautiful bird, sunflowers, but you also include all the details: a flower petal on the leaf, and the 'hairs' around the flower stems. The only comment I have is I wish you didn't crop the leaf at the bottom and show more space next to the leaf on the top left. Posted: 08/03/2026 18:37:04
Jean, thanks so much. I'll look at a better crop when I redo it. Good catch! Posted: 08/04/2026 01:26:34
This is a very nicely designed calendar. I think it would look very nice on my wall except we really don't use paper calendars any more. I have a photographer friend who lives on the West coast who does calendars. He is quite an accomplished photographer and he sells his calendars on Amazon. Every Christmas he sends us his latest one. We set it up and around May or June we notice that we haven't flipped the page over. I don't have the heart to ask him to stop sending them.
The image is very sharp. I would dodge the area around the eyes a bit. Posted: 08/08/2026 01:30:50
The image is very sharp. I would dodge the area around the eyes a bit. Posted: 08/08/2026 01:30:50
Thanks, Ed. I've tried to fix the eye with the image I provided, with no luck. But I'll revisit.
I put the calendar on my computer Desktop. So I have a calendar handy to look at. It's just a fun little project to work on my Photoshop skills. Posted: 08/11/2026 01:45:22
I put the calendar on my computer Desktop. So I have a calendar handy to look at. It's just a fun little project to work on my Photoshop skills. Posted: 08/11/2026 01:45:22
I'm really impressed by their choice of focal length and aperture. Capturing such a quick moment with a bird and a flower from that far away is amazing. No specific suggestions-it's just a fantastic shot! Posted: 08/11/2026 02:54:32
Thanks so much, Pei-Fan! I really appreciate it! Posted: 08/18/2026 14:23:49
It is a great idea to make the monthly calendar.
Posted: 08/11/2026 02:55:43
Posted: 08/11/2026 02:55:43
Brenda - I like the colors of the sunflower in the original better, the difference in the colors of the bird and flower are fantastic. Posted: 08/14/2026 22:07:30
Good point, Kathryn! I'll take that into consideration in my re-do! Posted: 08/18/2026 14:24:27
Breanda,
This is a very good picture. I really like the colors and the bird's position. I would keep the original version with the lighter background and retain the outlines as they are in the original-less sharp than the processed version. Posted: 08/23/2026 18:57:32
This is a very good picture. I really like the colors and the bird's position. I would keep the original version with the lighter background and retain the outlines as they are in the original-less sharp than the processed version. Posted: 08/23/2026 18:57:32