Cactus Wren out on a Cholla branch

[Gus Hallgren]

Hi Folks;

Captured this Cactus Wren (Our state bird in AZ) in our garden yesterday. Beginning of a storm & I used fill flash to help take the photo.

Comments always welcome & appreciated.

Gus

Olympus E-3, Zuiko ED 50-200mm f2.8-3.5 SWD, @ 320 mm equiv.
AP: F/6.3, 1/250s, ISO 200, -0.70eV, CWA, sRGB AWB, Oly TTL flash set @ Auto Fill +0.30 comp

[Dave Leroy]

Good looking bird Gus and really nice use of flash.

I wonder if a bit more sharpening would work.

I might take the dead space off the right and then a tiny slice on left to counter balance if mine.

Excellent pose.

Dave

[Rob Mckenzie]

Wonderful capture Gus. I personally like the comp with the bird sitting nicely in the left third of the image. The space on the right gives it room to look into.
I do find the brown triangle to the left of the head distracting though. The other OOF cactus spikes don't distract as much as that one.
The fill flash is awesome - so natural. I really want to improve in this area.

[Gus Hallgren]

Hi Canucks;

That makes 3 of us, me, Circa `24, Vancouver. Thanks for your kind words. Actually, I think my postings have all had a just bit too much pop, and I am trying to tone them down a mite.

Happy New Year

Gus

[Julie Kenward]

Gus, I love seeing these wrens...I'm so glad you have access to them!

I think the bird is nicely sharpened. I think the cactus is a little bit oversharpened compared to the bird so you might back down there or...and this is what I'd do...just tone the brights down a bit on the perch so the bird gets a little more attention.

I'd almost go with a squarish crop here with just a little less on the left side than on the right. I'd clone over the blue area with the green and then blur the BG just a bit. This would help eliminate some of the brown upper right and the dark area in the LRC.

Thanks again for sharing this with us. BTW, what do cactus wren's like to eat? Will they come to feeders or are they more bug/ground feeders?

[Gus Hallgren]

Hi Jules;

Thanks for all your comments & suggestions. The Cactus Wrens love suet, and also eat bugs.

Happy New Year

Gus

[Mikko Viljamaa]

Another nice one Gus. The OOF bill bothers me personally most in this photo. Then again more DOF would have made the BG more noticeable also...


Mikko

[Bill Dix]

Another lovely wren, Gus. Great use of flash. I'm with Jules -- I like the position of the bird in the frame, but might try to clone out the dark patch on the right.

[Gus Hallgren]

Hi Folks;

Love your comments & suggestions.

Is this any better?

Happy New Year

Gus

[Brendan Dozier]

Nice image, like the detail and placement in comp. Agree the BG should be blurred and toned down a bit, seems a little busy.

[George Cottay]

From what I've seen that's a pretty average Hallgren shot. In other words, very nice.

For me, adding the additional blur to the background detracts rather than adds. Maybe it was a bit too much?