These weavers are really colorful in breeding season. Out of season they eclipse into a drab brown like the females. The male buzzes around defending a territory in dense reeds and it can be difficult to get a clear shot of them as they don't sit still for long and as they land the reed they land on sways through the others. This was taken just after the sun had set.
Nikon D200, 200-400+1.4 @550, 1/60 f5.6 ISO 400, RAW conversion in ACR
Comments and advice appreciated
Indeed really colourful. Great perch, pose, composition and lighting. Background, especially blossoming wheat in top left, is quite good apart from the drooping stalk in the lower which I find distracting and not appealing to the overall neutral image. But, the background also looks very noisy and the bird is not as sharp as it could be so I am presuming a large-scale crop took place here. Maybe bait a selective reed stalk and compose the perch whilst in a hide or other set up. Clearly they aren't garden birds but I think they would look for any spare nutrients in these delicate times the birds are witnessing. Congrats on getting a relatively difficult photograph.
Paul I like the basic image Pose and head turn are good Overall bg is pleasing Would suggest placing the bird a bit down and right more to the corner Usually small birds in frame look better in the corners
Did not see the exposure comp but image could go brighter If you lighten in PS will be introducing more noise btw Capture NX is doing fine for conversions particularly noise reduction !!! They are shipping the program with the D300 and D3 !!!!
I really like the overall scene here. I just find that there is a lack of detail in the bird. A bit of fill flash - and a tripod if one wasn't used would be my suggestion.
Thanks for the input guys. I will try reprocessing the raw file in Capture NX Al - I haven't used it much and still on a steep part of the learning curve with it. The lack of sharpness in the birds back and tail is due to intervening foliage and this unfortunately precludes fill flash. I have another image with more sharpness and detail but I just liked the impressionistic components to this one. Baiting sounds like a good idea but their minds are just not on food in this environment :D. The swaying of the stalk they land on behind those in the foreground is a real challenge as they choose dense reed beds for a reason
This image took me back to watching these birds in Africa (very nice thoughts to have on a dreary day in England). I love the watercolour wash effect of the background, particularly the seed head (rice?). In life these birds are very solid black and red without much texture, so the lack of fine detail in those areas is fine for me.