It is a wonderful photo in so many ways.
This female cardinal is a beauty with her lovely, understated red crest and beak, perfectly accessorized by her tail color and the accent on her wings. (And she looks like she knows it, too.)
I think you captured a real beauty queen. I bet she thought you were one of the paparazzi.
When I saw the little bit of debate here about whether this was a young male, I had to look it up.
For those of you who might be interested in learning about birds, I am linking here to the cardinal entry from the Cornell website. I learned about this site from a friend in TV. You can see pictures of the male and female and if you click on the Life History tab, there you will find lots of information. I just learned that the female cardinal is one of the few female birds that can sing, and she can outsing her mate. So anyway, here's the link....
Northern Cardinal, Identification, All About Birds - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Thank you, alemorkam.