Cactus Wren out on a limb

[Gus Hallgren]

Hi Folks;

Cactus Wren was up on the branch feeding on some suet above him.

Comments always welcome and appreciated.

Gus

Olympus E-3, Zuiko ED 50-200mm f2.8-3.5 SWD, @ 300 mm equiv. Monopod
AP: F/6.3, 1/250s, ISO 200, 0.00eV, CWA, sRGB, AWB Minimal PP LR3, CS5

[Julie Kenward]

Gus, the bird is a beauty! I saw my first Wren return for winter this week and can hardly wait to see them all at the feeders this winter.

I love the position of the bird and the branch he's on - not so sure about the branch running down the side of the frame though. Can you crop or clone it out? It feels to me like it needs to have either more presence or none at all.

The yellow OOF leaves in the bg are bugging me a bit, too. I opened a hue/saturation layer and moved the hue a little more towards the yellow side and then desaturated it a bit and lightened it up and that seemed to help it blend in a bit better. I then did the "paint brush" technique where you grab the soft green next to the yellow and use a soft brush at 20-30% opacity to lightly paint over the brighter color. This is a great way to tone things down a bit while still leaving them in the frame. I think their presence is nice - just not quite as bright as they are pulling my eye from the bird.

So have the hummers all left? I'm having withdrawals!

[Gus Hallgren]

How is this, Jules?

Gus

[Julie Kenward]

I love it, Gus! Now the bird reallly takes center stage. Great job on the tree!

[pat lillich]

this wren is gorgeous! and so is the background..... what beautiful details in the feathers..

[Peter Farrell]

I like the re-post without the tree. The bird looks great, supper detail and good pose.
I wish the perch was nut cut and there are some clonig artifacts on the right
Peter

[Cheryl Flory]

Peter, do you have a tutorial or examples of how to do that extension? It looks perfectly done.

[Cheryl Flory]

Thanks, Peter! I will give it a try.
What do you mean, using a quickmask?

[Daniel Cadieux]

Good tweaks all around, but for me the biggest issue was the cut perch ending which Peter dealt with amazingly. Try finding a better perch to place underneath your suet feeder...this way you'll less work to do in PS! Perch and BG selection are two major factors in setups that you can control...worth the effort ;-)

[Gus Hallgren]

Hi Folks

Great repost. Like all the ideas. Daniel, I have moved the perch. Biggest problem is one tree to handle Suet, hummingbird feeder, pomegrants, oranges, grape jelly, Thistle seed feeder, Main bird seed feeder, and also rub peanut butter on cacti. Have to place for sun and backgrounds. Great early morning light at 3000', only problem, have 2 large peaks about 9500' to the East, and smaller ones to the west that cut off the sunset early. Have 2 HB single tube, and take one down depending what one is in the sunlight. I believe that the Alden Knight Solunar tables have merit, and for one 20 minute period I had birds comming from everywhere.

Appreciate all your help.

Gus

[Daniel Cadieux]

Gus, it sounds like your backyard is a bird's paradise!!

[Mikko Viljamaa]

Nice work Gus - both behind the camera and the laptop screen. I especially like in this case the low angle you have for the Wren.


Mikko

[Bill Dix]

Great bird, Gus, and nicely captured. I hope to see one some day. Terrific PS advice and reposts; a useful thread.