Variegated Fairy-wren

[PhilCook]

Not a common bird, and one of the shiest and hardest of the Wrens to photograph, but every now and then they can be found in some unexpected places like this little male. Found him and his little harem of wives in the middle of nowhere living in the thorn bushes surrounding an old disused cattle yard in a rather desolate part of inland Australia. Always amazes me how such tiny and seemingly delicate little birds can live in such a harsh environment.

Canon 7D + 500 f4 + 1.4 x TC....700mm, f6.3, 1/1600, ISO 400.......hand held in morning light but under light shade, cropped, selective sharpen, noise reduction to backdrop and two extra thorns cloned out

[arash_hazeghi]

good pose and a nice BG, perch ain't bad. good light. details look a bit coarse and crunchy with too much sharpening halo. perhaps can be fixed by reprocessing.

TFS

[PhilCook]

good pose and a nice BG, perch ain't bad. good light. details look a bit coarse and crunchy with too much sharpening halo. perhaps can be fixed by reprocessing.

TFS

Cheers, the halo is actually in the RAW file...result of strong morning light maybe, started to PS some out but too tedious lol

[arash_hazeghi]

light doesn't look that harsh to me...crunchy detail and jagged artifacts usually come from over-sharpening and sometimes too much cropping.

[PhilCook]

light doesn't look that harsh to me...crunchy detail and jagged artifacts usually come from over-sharpening and sometimes too much cropping.

Thanks Arash, you may be right, maybe too much crop, it only had a very slight sharpen....not sure if I am allowed to post original for extra help but here's an original version linked externally



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[Jim Crosswell]

I like the colourful bird, perch and BG. The IQ has suffered from the big crop. Nice image Phil.

[arash_hazeghi]

you are def allowed (and welcome since it helps with critique)

and yes, I think this one was a bit too much of a crop, I might go for a looser crop in a vertical presentation here.

[gail bisson]

I agree with all of the above.
You have too big of a crop and it has really hurt the IQ.
The other issue is that you have no details in the blacks.
Lovely little bird and congrats on finding him,
Gail

[Satish Ranadive]

Phil:
I too agree with above.Beautiful bird with nice colors and pose.I like the long tail.

Regards,
Satish.

[Jon Rista]

Wow, what a stunning little bird! He is quite the beauty, and beautifully captured. It might be interesting to try a slightly wider crop, although I think this one is pretty good. The highlights feel just a touch harsh, and might be able to stand a bit of a highlight or whites pull.

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Phil, it's a very nice capture, but I agree that the tight crop detracts from the image. Is the original an original crop, or an original with no adjustments?

[PhilCook]

Phil, it's a very nice capture, but I agree that the tight crop detracts from the image. Is the original an original crop, or an original with no adjustments?

The second is original, no crop, with no adjustment at all, straight off camera jpeg. I juist did a re edit on the jpeg last night and I think it is a slight improvement.