California quail, stepping out.

[Bob Smith]

I was walking along a trail that emerged from a Ponderosa pine glen next to a subdivision in Kelowna, B.C.. As my grandson climbed around the concrete barrier at trail's end this perky fellow popped out of the brush and strolled along the barrier. I barely had time to grab my shoulder strap suspended 1DxII and grab focus and shoot (happily I had just adjusted exposure) a few frames before he hopped off his walkway into the bushes.Canon 1DxII, EF 100-400 f4.5-5.6 IS + 1.4x III, ISO 4000, f/8, 1/2000, HH

[Colin Driscoll]

Cocky looking bird. Nice colors but a bit soft and there is an odd glow around the head, something from PP? Also it would be easy enough to remove the oof green bush too.

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

Very nice Image. I love the raised foot. A little bit of sharpening on the bird will help the image.

I agree with the glow around the face which needs to be addressed.

Well done.

TFS

[Bill Dix]

Great walking pose. I don't mind the bit of green. Halo noted.

[William Dickson]

Nice looking bird Bob...and you captured some very good detail with a lovely pose. This would look even better on a natural perch.

Will

[Daniel Cadieux]

That halo is surely from lightening the face and having bled on to the canvas outside of it. There is also some noise on the face that looks like the type you get from lifting the shadows. The perch is what it is, but in the context of the story it works fine and is a fun souvenir of the time with your grandson. Excellent walking stride here. Did you perform some NR to the body?

[Bob Smith]

That halo is surely from lightening the face and having bled on to the canvas outside of it. There is also some noise on the face that looks like the type you get from lifting the shadows. The perch is what it is, but in the context of the story it works fine and is a fun souvenir of the time with your grandson. Excellent walking stride here. Did you perform some NR to the body?

Thanks to all who commented--your input was really helpful.Daniel nailed the cause of the head halo---sloppiness in my brush work on the head which I trust I have corrected in the RP. To your Q Daniel, yes I did do some NR overall to the image and I've tinkered with that a bit in this RP, including adding some colour NR although I'm not sure whether your Q is suggesting yea or nay to that approach. Altho I can see the effects if I watch these adjustments at the pixel level in 11:1 I confess these old eyes don't make the distinction in the magnification posted . I'm afraid I'm a fan of environmental touches like the OOF green plant so I've left that in.I did see some really nice twisted pine root perches nearby so maybe one day luck will be even more on my side ---as it was I admit to a little fist pump and "yes" of elation when I saw this in the viewfinder back at the truck.

[Arthur Morris]

I like the high-key repost without the halo :) I like the image overall and I do not even hate the wall; it sort of works well in the soft lgiht.

with love, artie

[Bob Smith]

I like the high-key repost without the halo :) I like the image overall and I do not even hate the wall; it sort of works well in the soft lgiht.

with love, artie

Thank you Arthur. I liked the wall too. It is in fact part of the natural habitat of these subdivision resident birds and actually doesn't look all that different than various boulders the quail often perch on. It provided a lovely little highway all his own for this fellow to scoot across the trail on.