Gang-gang Cockatoo

[Leo Berzins]

I've been spending a lot of time lately caring for my ailing mother. She gets many birds visiting the birdbaths in her garden but the cluttered vegetation and mainly dappled light make avian photography challenging. I did find one possible location though, and set up a small perch near one of the birdbaths and waited for some of the small honeyeaters that had been active in that location. Not long after setting up, this female Gang-gang Cockatoo came in to land on the perch which was too delicate to handle a bird of this size and immediately collapsed. The startled cockatoo then grasped at the dangling branches of a nearby silver birch tree and swung there for a second or two. I fired off a burst of shots and was surprised and delighted to find that there was one acceptably sharp frame amongst them despite the low light and the swinging motion of the bird.

In other words, lots of luck was involved in capturing this image.

Canon 50D, 400f/5.6L, 1/60s, f/5.6, ISO 400, Av mode, EC +2/3, tripod, fill flash with BB, FEC -1 2/3,
full frame, minor levels adjustment and sharpening only, extra catchlight from flash cloned out

C&C always welcome.

[Ivan Sjögren]

I like it, good comp, sharpnes and a very cool bird.
It would be nice with a little head turn against you,
also you may try a vertical crop to get rid of the branch in the top right corner.
Good image, keep them coming!

[Ilija Dukovski]

Very cool bird, good sh and exp, agree about the head turn and branch in URC.
I would try to remove the branch in PS.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I really enjoyed reading your story, and the image has great entertainment value to go with it. I love how it is clutching all those thin branches...very cool! Lots of potential here to make it really shine: I agree the top right branch needs to go, as well as the bright green leaves near the bird. A bit of burning on the body, and additional canvas at bottom, as well as crop at right would all contribute nicely to this image and its composition IMO. As posted the sharpness looks remarkable for the described action and slow SS!! I have no doubt you were happy with this one :-)

P.S. Hope your mother gets well soon.....:)

[Roberto Betta]

Leo this is really nice. Both composition and pose are great however I too agree about the branch top right.

[Steve Canuel]

Neat pose. Looks like he's checking his options for a safe landing. I like the BG and agree about the branch. Best wishes for your mother's health.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

That's one cool looking bird.
I would try a vertical crop with a couple inches added to the bottom if possible.
Sharpness is indeed very good despite the slow ss and the swinging.
Thanks for sharing.

[Martin Wallis]

Agree with others, good sharpness at that SS. Gang gangs are my favourite parrot. Well done.

[Leo Berzins]

Thanks for all the comments, kind words and constructive suggestions.

For this repost I have done the following additional processing:
cropped left and right, extended canvas below, removed upper right branch with quick masks + cloning tool + healing brush, toned down bright background leaves, selected the body of the bird with a quick mask and applied a 15% linear burn and some levels adjustment.

[Mark Young]

The repost looks much nicer. What a great bird to have in your mum's backyard, hopefully we'll see you post one of the even prettier male soon.