Lesser Masked-Weaver (female)

[Ian Wilson]

Another frame from the mouth of the Mkuze River, KZN, 1 April 2015.

Canon 5DIII + 600 mm f/4 II + 1.4x III extender, hand-held.
Manual, spot metering, spot AF, f/7.1, 1/640 sec, ISO 250.
Processed with DPP4 and PS Elements.

Thanks for looking, critical feedback welcome and appreciated. Regards,
Ian

[David Salem]

Its a real shame about the OOF branch in the frame as it is very dominant and I can't see any real way of easily removing it or even part of it. The shame is that the bird looks awesome and is full of great color and detail. The pose, eye contact and BG color all look fantastic also.
See what others think but the branch grabs my eyes as I view this. Great job on the techs and the species looks nice also.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

I agree. On top of the bummer of a branch, the light appears a bit strong. But definitely an image worth keeping even as a record. A beautiful looking bird, lots of detail.
Good job!

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the pose, clarity, details, composition and BG. The OOF branch does detract but still a keeper for me. Nice image Ian.

[arash_hazeghi]

nice shot Ian, I wish the OOF branch wasn't there

[Ian Wilson]

Thanks everyone for taking the trouble to leave feedback on this image. We are all agreed that it is compromised by the oof branch. The only thing I could think of was a major reconstruction but I don't feel confident about pulling it off convincingly. Regards, Ian.

[Bill Dix]

The bird is beautifully captured, with fine detail, light, pose. The OOF branch is a killer, but not much you can do with it. (There's a small spot beneath the tip of the beak that looks like a cloning artifact of some sort.)

[Don Lacy]

As noted wonderful image of the bird but of course the OOF branch is a major distraction

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dear Ian,

Myself and my partner live only 30 minutes' away from the location where you took this image...next time you visit our side of the woods please pop in to say hello!

I am familiar with your subject, as these birds make their nests in a number of trees in our garden as well, especially since we built a pond and put up a feeder...I must say they are very interesting from the behaviour POV.

Well captured, indeed a pity about the branch (sorry, I guess you have already heard enough comments about this), still a lovely image and nice detail on the bird, colours look natural to me and sharpness is there. Hope you have more on this fellow, I did enjoy viewing and you made me revisit some of my older images still waiting to be processed:)

Kind regards,

[Ian Wilson]

[QUOTE=Gabriela Plesea;1073185]Dear Ian,

Myself and my partner live only 30 minutes' away from the location where you took this image...next time you visit our side of the woods please pop in to say hello!

Hi Gabriela,
Thank you for your kind comments and especially for your generous invitation to give you a call if we are near Hluhluwe. My wife and I visit South Africa about every other year to enjoy the company of a birding friend from Johannesburg. We usually go to his bungalow on the Olifants River but this year we had a relaxing week at the Nibela Lake Lodge before going to Tanzania and Kenya with Rockjumper. Next year he will visit us here in Australia so it could be some time before we have the pleasure of another trip to your wonderful country.
Warm regards, Ian.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Ian, you were just so close to us...Next time please contact us, we'll try help you make the most of your trip!

Have a lovely week-end,