Shaft-tailed Whydah

[Chris van Rooyen]

An image from earlier this year in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. I removed some distracting twigs and cleaned up the background a bit. I probably could have stopped down a bit to get more of the tail sharp.

Camera Model: NIKON D850
Shutter speed: 1/1600 sec
Aperture: 6.3
ISO: 360
Lens: 500.0 mm f/5.6 PF

FF, processed in LR & PS

[Jonathan Ashton]

Looks good to me the OOF tail tip almost conveys movement which of course would happen will the slightest breeze. Colours and sharpening appear well managed.

[Dorian Anderson]

I saw these in non-breeding plumage, so I'm envious of this colorful result! Bird is perfectly exposed and very sharp. I don't mind the OOF tail tip as that's a long way from the focal point on the eye.
That the twigs are parallel to the dangling tail makes the perch work with the bird rather than against it.

[Brian Sump]

Chris, first time seeing this species. Must be somewhat related to the scissortail?

You continue to impress with your richly colored backdrops. While a perch with any kind of foliage would have made this image, I do like the overall composition choice and embrace how the tail and the lower branches arc together.

I could see a version with a slight bit of the matching hues in the bkg enhanced for a very subtle compliment to the subject (oranges/peach). A great pose though, works overall.

[Steve Kaluski]

Clean ans simple Chris.

I would loose the hint of Blue coming through and subject to you ethics, remove the twig just clipping the body and perhaps the RHS one, but that's minimal so it might be better staying. Watch your sharpening as there is a slight halo zippering around the subject.

TFS
Steve

[Chris van Rooyen]

Thanks everyone for the useful comments and suggestions!:S3:

[William Dickson]

Very nice Chris....Love the colours throughout...Very pleasing to the eye...Just wondering if a vertical may work...

Will

[Andreas Liedmann]

Nice one Chris ... good to get to see something that is not often posted .
All does look quite good to me , personally i would reduce the oranges a touch ... like in your other recent posts :w3... might be just me who is sensitive to those oranges :t3:bg3:.
Very funny to have the tail feathers and the twigs paralell lined up ...
A very attractive bird nicely captured

TFS Andreas

[Kurt Bowman]

Beautiful color Chris. New species to me as well. I like the angle of the tail playing along with he branches, but still find myself wondering what this might look like as a vertical crop? Still nicely composed. Techs look good to my eye. Nice work!

[Steve Kaluski]

but still find myself wondering what this might look like as a vertical crop?

Hi Kurt, remember, if you crop to vertical from a landscape image, you are throwing away all those pixels. It's aways best to shoot in the way you wish to portrait the subject, but then once you have that in the bag, change format. In doing so you retail IQ.:S3: