It's christmas...almost.

[Don Railton]

Mr & Ms Pink & Grey Galah doing a bit of cleaning & tidying of their respective suits in prep for Christmas (well maybe...). These birds are common in my part of the world (bit like PB's and icebergs to others) and I liked the tree. It is very Australian scene so I though I would share... I had to tone down the bright highlights (also very Australian) but that s about all.. Processed in ACR (CS6), noise reduction on BG and a little sharpening on the bird. about 90% FF. Merry Christmas to you all...

1D4 and 500 F4 (series 1) on a 5 series gitzo and Wimberley head
1/1000 sec @ F4.5, ISO 1600, Manual exposure

DON

[keith mitchell]

Don reminds me of my time spent in Perth WA unfortunately my Boy as decided to move back to the UK so none of these for me for the time being.
I really like the preening pose of these two super looking birds and there great colour, a pleasure to view.
Wishing you a very Happy Christmas.
Keith.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Don, a very 'colourful' scene, but the LH branch for me is the killer, it's just too dominant IMHO, pruning it really makes a big difference If possible seeing the other head albeit preening would also have helped, also just each some sharpening halos appearing too.

Have a great Xmas.

TFS
Steve

[Don Railton]

Thanks Keith, glad you enjoyed the image..

Hi Steve, I included the branch because of the unusual bark and I thought it added a bit of a frame...I am always glad to hear your thoughts though. I agree, there is 'halo' in some areas which I think may have come from the fringe of the feathers glowing in the back light. Apart from that I can only see artefacts by pixel peeping.. I will check the raw image anyway.

regards to you both

DON

[Arthur Morris]

Nicely framed. Love the pink, the soft light, and the bird on our left. And the tree. Sharp with an interesting BKGR. Is the tree a sycamore?

[Don Railton]

Nicely framed. Love the pink, the soft light, and the bird on our left. And the tree. Sharp with an interesting BKGR. Is the tree a sycamore?

Thank you for your comments Arty.. The tree is a common Eucalypt of some kind, but their are many dozens of different types and I cannot tell what this one is.. Notice the dead branch (the perch...) attached to a live tree? Bigger branches die on trees in a similar way, often they fall off leaving a nesting hollow that many of the Australian bird use. Merry Christmas anyway..

regards
DON

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Don. That is a pretty nifty trick.... I did not notice it but now that you mentioned it it seems obvious. How did you attach it?

[Don Railton]

Hi Arty.

I am not sure what you mean exactly Arty... The dead branch is attached to the tree when this image was taken. Branches often die like this on apparently perfectly healthy Eculyapt's and eventually fall off. (I think they rot..) As the tree grows the bark grows around the base of dead branch on the tree and forms a hollow which many birds use as a nest site... Have included a photo to show that... hope I am not breaking the rules but just delete if I am..