Female Superb Fairy Wren

[Colin Driscoll]

Here's another shot from the session a week ago of a female Superb Fairy Wren.
1DXII 600mm F/4L III 1.4x III 840mm HH
1/2000 f8 iso800
Manual exp Pattern metering
Cropped, NR and levels to lighten BG only.
No overall sharpening other than DPP4 sharpen at 3.
Selected sharpening on tail and face.
Toned down the perch.
Tidied catchlight. PS2019.

[Paul Burdett]

They're really cute birds and you've captured her well. However, more of a head turn towards you would be nice, and the light looks a little harsh. It does seem a little over sharpened to me.

[David Roach]

Hi Colin, I envy you such beautiful subjects. Love the perch, pose and killer BG. I am far from an expert, but do have a some questions; 1- Is this a big crop? 2- Where is the focus point? Now that you have applied no sharpening(on the body at least), it just looks like the bird is slightly OOF/IQ isn't there. The lower perch looks sharp. At f8 with that shutter speed (and that equipment) and even if the reed was swaying it should be sharper. I will leave it to the experts to give better inputs. TFS

[Colin Driscoll]

Now that is a quandary isn't it. There is one vote for over-sharpened and one for under-sharpened. Focus point was on mid-body.

[David Roach]

Looks like it might be back-focus (because the reed looks perfect) but I would wait for one of the pros opinions/advice.

[Bill Dix]

What a great little wren. Lovely bg. I'll add my opinion that just a touch of sharpening on the bird (except not the tail) wouldn't hurt. Perch looks sharp if not a tiny bit oversharp. Maybe a little DE on the bird's body in lieu of sharpening??

[John Mack]

Nice bird,nice pose and nice perch. Killer background as well.

[Arthur Morris]

Agree with all the positives and that the face looks a bit short of being in perfect focus ...

with love, artie