A Cheerful Fellow

Gallery: AvianPosted October 31, 20141,082 views6 comments

African Half-Masked Weaver at the Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle, WA. My goodness this little bird jetted around the enclosure, that was just full of branches with huge thorns. Dunno how they escape impaling themselves... I was determined to get a shot when it finally lit to rest, which it finally did and sat still in the clear for a short burst of shots.
Lots of post-processing to eliminate the impossible clutter of branches and highlight the soft, colorful background, which I filled in from elements in the frame and hand-blended. The bird and the perch branch are unchanged from the original capture.

Panasonic GH3, Lumix G-Vario 100-300 f4-5.6 @ 114mm (equivalent to 228mm), circ.pol., handheld. f4.1, 1/400, +1.00EV, ISO 2000. 75% crop.

Comments appreciated. Thanks.

Comments

6 comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on October 31, 2014 at 9:39 PM

nie job on this captive subject Catherine. It can be very difficult taking one and making something out of it with all the distracting elements as you mentioned.If it were mine, I might consider cropping off the top and take it to an 8x10 frame. I say that because you the top looks a touch blotchy...I assume from all the PP (probably cloning)?

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on October 31, 2014 at 10:15 PM

I agree with Kurt, you could crop some and have a stronger image IMHO. I do like the color and detail you caught in this bird. Was this in an outdoor exhibit or indoors? Thanks for sharing.

Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on November 1, 2014 at 1:23 AM

Another vote for Kurt's suggestion. I spent a lot of time trying to photograph this bird a while back and your effort is far superior to mine.

Registered on August 28, 2006, 1240 Posts, 8506 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on November 1, 2014 at 9:10 AM

I have one shot of this bird in captivity, this is far better Catherine.
Great job cleaning up the clutter, well done!

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by Mike Ramy on January 3, 2015 at 11:19 AM

Hey Catherine,
I kind of like this image as posted, the work you put into the BG is amazing, it's gorgeous and compliments the subject so well. As for the subject, Sweet, great pose and that eye is fantastic.
Well done . . .

Registered on June 16, 2012, 567 Posts, 2809 Comments

Comment posted by Patrick O'Healy on January 3, 2015 at 1:44 PM

Catherine,
I agree with Kurt's recommendation and would take the crop further if it will hold up. I wonder how it will look if you crop off some of the bottom branches and perhaps desaturate the bird a little. Good catch and wonderful diligence waiting for the right moment.

Registered on March 13, 2011, 326 Posts, 1679 Comments