Another one of this male stonechat in its environment,after it stared at me,spun round and spotted something in the reeds,I removed the reeds coming out at the back of the head, but did not think it looked natural to me,so left them in.cannon500mm IS,L,F4,5D MK111,700MM FL,TRIPOD,iso2000,1/1600S,F5.6,CROP,SHARPENED,SH,CB.
Chris I like this one also, the reeds at the back of the head as you say look perfectly natural. I think you have a good balance here with the bird being perfectly visible and interestingly perched with a beautifully and more muted distant background.
The darkest areas between the eye and the bill look a little bit dark to me, I think it would be possible to see a little more there.
In your description above you wrote SH - does this mean shadows and highlights? I think it may be worthwhile considering making masks and applying curves or perhaps the investigation of luminosity masks. Shadows and highlights can be very useful and also effective but I suspect you could find more flexibility with alternatives.
Great little bird on a great perch. I didn't even notice the reeds poking out of his head until you mentioned it. The two bent over reeds give the image a nice sort of diagonal with the bird. Lovely BG and colours.
The way that BG picks up the colours of the bird and the vegetation is amazing Chris,preferred the pose on the last one(personal choice of course) but I would be well pleased if either one was mine, another beautiful natural shot.
I love it when a soft supple and roundish bird or other animal is perched and contrasted against an intuitively opposite textured setting or perch. The long straight, pointy, kind of unyielding grasses create a very interesting and effective contrast to the soft feathered bird. To me it is also just a simple and elegant image of the species. steve
Spotted something Male Stonechat
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