Cactus wren in habitat

[Mack Hicks]

Same cactus wren that I posted yesterday, but in a more natural/cluttered setting.
D300 500 f/4
1/400 @ f.6.3 ISO 400

PP LR3 beta, WB and tone adjusted, cloned out twig at top of head, sharpened


Question I have for you, do you prefer to have the cleaner BG, or do you sometimes like to see the bird in its more natural environment?

[Tony Whitehead]

Nice light and I like the habitat as it shows the reason for the cryptic patterning, Mac. I might clone a bit more behind the head to give it a cleaner BG in that area and darken down the 2 brighter strands above the bird on the right and the horizontal one bisecting the BG.

[Deborah Hanson]

Most often I prefer the environmental images/natural backgrounds - but depends, I suppose.
I find that these are not easy birds to catch.
Even with the busy background, the detail in the feathers and eye stand out and the bird isn't lost. I might be tempted to blur the background just a bit (not the perch bush - as I like that very much - that is where you find a wren most often, here anyway).

Deb

[Connie Mier]

I think you can strive for both a clean BG and the habitat (and if you're lucky, you'll get it!). I do like the colors of the BG here and wished the bird was positioned toward the camera. I bet this guy is a very difficult subject to capture, so congratulations.