Bird & Stick

[Chris Martinez]

Superb Fairy-wren - female

This little bird has three hungry mouths to feed. Her brood patch is clearly visible(thanks Paul:cool:)

1DMKIV, 600mm IS, 1.4x II.

ISO 1600, 1/500, f/10

I removed an OOF falling raindrop and smoothed out the area around it. BG is essentially as is or was :p It's about a 40% crop.
Tweaked levels, selective sharpening, NR on BG and also the eye of the bird.

[Richard Pittam]

That is a beautiful shot Chris. As the HA is almost perfect, could you sharpen the eye a little bit to give it even more punch? Maybe the upload "softened" it a little bit - I think you have to over-sharpen prior to upload, so it's then right when posted - not sure if anyone else feels that.

How small is this bird?

Cheers.
Richard

[Mike Milicia]

Great BG and composition!
Really like the diagonal of the perch.

[Pieter de Waal]

Hi Chris, nicely composed image with perfect HA. What a delicate little bird with amazing eye patch. Agree with a slight bit of sharpening of the head. Also like the background.

[Chris Martinez]

How small is this bird?

Sorry, These birds measure about 13cm from bill to tail. Nice and small:D

[Chris Martinez]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I'll consider a little facial sharpening :)