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Colin Driscoll
09-23-2009, 04:56 AM
A bird of far north Australia and, you guessed it, inhabiting rocky sandstone areas. Has a beautiful piping call that echoes around the rocks.

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh296/MyPikkies/Other%20Birds/SandstoneShrikethrush170809.jpg

50D, 100-400 @ 400, 1/250, f5.6, ev +.66, iso 400, 430EXII -1.33, HH
Rob Drummond
09-23-2009, 05:04 AM
Fantastic light and setting Colin - not a species you see photographed very often. Do I detect a slight movement in the head?

cheers
Rob
Colin Driscoll
09-23-2009, 05:16 AM
Thanks Rob. There's no head movement (magnifying the RAW image) so not sure what suggests that.
Keith Carver
09-23-2009, 06:06 AM
I like the encapsulating rock perch, would wish for a little brighter catchlight. The head looks just a bit softer than the breast feathers, and looking at the rocks, the image seems slightly front-focused. Very nice BKGR!
Colin Driscoll
09-23-2009, 06:12 AM
Thanks Keith. The centre AF point (only one used) was on the wing shoulder. The image is about a 50% crop so that might explain some softness. The BG is a rock wall about 300m across a deep gorge.
denise ippolito
09-23-2009, 06:44 AM
Colin, Very unique composition. The upper portion of the image seems a bit softer than the rest. The BG color is lovely.
Harshad Barve
09-23-2009, 07:26 AM
lovely compo , nice pose , killer BG , taking off some space on top may help
TFS
Ramon M. Casares
09-23-2009, 09:03 AM
It is different. Nice species, ambient, BG, pose, light, and detail, a tad more contrast might help a bit IMO.
Congratulations!
Hendri Venter
09-23-2009, 09:09 AM
I like the pose and the rocks kind of frame the bird nicely. Would also like to see the eye a bit brighter. Still a very good image and something different.
Daniel Cadieux
09-23-2009, 09:50 AM
Interesting bird, and neat habitat/perch. Although I don't know how this bird sounds like I can imagine it echoing about. Comp-wise I feel a good crop to eliminate about 2/3 off the empty space at left would strenghen the image. The BG colour is very appealing. I agree with the others about apparent softness - especially to the face.
Stu Bowie
09-23-2009, 11:18 AM
Nicely framed in the "cave" Colin, and good flashwork. Colours in the BG look good, and I agree that this needs another round of sharpening.
Axel Hildebrandt
09-23-2009, 05:25 PM
I like the pose and BG. Adding to the other comments, there is a magenta cast on my monitor. Have you installed the latest firmware?
Colin Driscoll
09-23-2009, 05:42 PM
I like the pose and BG. Adding to the other comments, there is a magenta cast on my monitor. Have you installed the latest firmware?

Yes Axel I have the latest firmware and it did fix the magenta cast problem with my 50D. I suspect that any magenta cast comes from light reflected from the surroundings. Australia's 'red centre' is aptly named and has to be seen to be believed, the image looks much as I remember the scene.
arash_hazeghi
09-23-2009, 05:56 PM
Like the BG, pose, environment and colors. Might do a tighter crop and sharpness isn't there.
Axel Hildebrandt
09-23-2009, 07:23 PM
Yes Axel I have the latest firmware and it did fix the magenta cast problem with my 50D. I suspect that any magenta cast comes from light reflected from the surroundings. Australia's 'red centre' is aptly named and has to be seen to be believed, the image looks much as I remember the scene.

Thanks, Colin! I hope to get a chance to see Australia some day.