D'Arnauds-Barbets - (Trachyphonus darnaudii)

[John Lowin]

This image was captured in Samburu, Kenya. This is an older slide scan so there is no detailed exposure information.
I have applied a gaussian blur to the bkg. I wish there was no tail overlap. But I couldn't resist this courting pair. I hope you like this. Critique and comment welcome, I'm here to learn. - John

Nikon F5
Nikkor 500mm f/4 AF-s
Nikon 2x Teleconverter
Fuji Velvia
Niall Benvie Bean Bag

[Tony Whitehead]

Nice poses and light, John. Looks a little soft as presented so could probably have a look at adjusting the sharpening for web presentation. Something strange happening on the left where it looks as thought the BG blur has encroached onto the perch and foreground. A good reminder of how spoilt we are with EXIF on digital capture so we can retrieve exposure info.

[Lance Peters]

Hi John - like the head angle and eye contact on both birds - not always easy to get. Agree it looks somewhat soft.

[John Lowin]

Hi Tony, I opened up the blurred bkg. and cropped some on the left. I think this is an improvement, What do you think? Thanks for the comments. - John.

[Tony Whitehead]

Crop looks good, John. Have tried a version with a bit of selective sharpening on the birds.

[John Lowin]

Tony, Big improvement. What method did you use to make the selection and what method did you use to sharpen? Greatly appreciate your help. Thanks. - John

[Tony Whitehead]

Hi John. I just used one of the Creative Sharpening brushes in Photokit Sharpener. I find it a quick and easy way to do selective sharpening as as it is based on a layer and masked it is infinitely adjustable.

[John Lowin]

Hi Tony, I was wondering how you made the complex selection so rapidly. Many thanks! - John