The Marsh Wren - series

[FlyingSquirrel]

The Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris) is one of my favorite birds. I think they are really cute and have comical behaviors. If you're not familiar with them...they are quite small and like to stay hidden, making their odd chattering and gurgling call from the wetland grasses. Occasionally the male will scurry to the top of a cattail stem to have a look around for intruders.

Here are some shots from May/June of this year that I've finally got around to processing. Typical processing for me: Color temp / WB, highlight /shadow / exposure tweaks in LR, then off to photoshop for the real magic. Curves, LCE, cloning/cleanup if needed, sharpening, etc. In shot #1 I cloned out a cattail stem on the left and on the right in the foreground (the bg of the shot really was like you see it) and in shot #2 I did minor blurring/cleanup of a few blades of grass and a cattail on left.

Please view full size; C&C appreciated (regarding the shot itself, comp, post processing, etc) - always want to improve as much as possible.

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2


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4

[Steve S]

I like the first and last the best, matt. The first one, is my favorite.................doesn't get any better, an awesome shot all around.

[Brownbear]

Beautiful bird and your images are equally beautiful, perfect exposure, focus, detail, everything...

#1 is my absolute favourite, truly special.

[Downrigger]

Beautiful. Would love your instruction re these thoughts...
Great focus (manual?) as I can see that DOF is sufficiently shallow that breasts and heads are sharp while tails are not. Remarkable to have achieved that with these frisky characters and I doubt AF did that for you.
Also - successful use of (+) exposure bias against bright sky. Again, with these characters flitting about it amazes me that you got that adjustment in when the moment arose to shoot against the sky.
Overall, just awesome.

[Geoff F]

Clear and good exposure. Good natural poses as well.

[John 2]

Cracking set Mac. I can only echo Geoff's comments.

[Nancy Moran G]

I love them, but 1 is my favorite. Thank you for including your work flow. I am just listening to tutorials at library for my new PSE 11 program. My 1st ever, so BIG learning curve!
Nancy

[FlyingSquirrel]

Thank you, everyone, for your comments, I appreciate it! To answer these questions..

Beautiful. Would love your instruction re these thoughts...
Great focus (manual?) as I can see that DOF is sufficiently shallow that breasts and heads are sharp while tails are not. Remarkable to have achieved that with these frisky characters and I doubt AF did that for you.

Actually, Autofocus. Canon 7D camera body with single point AF selected. I can't recall if I had discovered the "Spot AF" mode yet when these shots were taken...either way, the Spot AF mode makes threading the needle with AF a piece of cake. Regardless, the 7D AF is pretty sweet (that said, I've not been spoiled yet since I've never used a pro body camera). With the 400mm f5.6L lense and single point AF you can target the subject pretty well, and given that the head/breast are in the front, the AF is more likely to pick them up vs the tail. And then to add to all of that, you have to realize I shoot dozens of shots, throw out the AF misses, and pick the good ones to show

Also - successful use of (+) exposure bias against bright sky. Again, with these characters flitting about it amazes me that you got that adjustment in when the moment arose to shoot against the sky.
Overall, just awesome.

Thanks. Since I was primarily shooting for the wrens, I was observing them to see what they were doing. Then I dialed in my settings (I think at that time I was using aperture priority w/ evaluative metering) which basically just meant setting my Av and then turning the +/- wheel as needed. When they climb the cattail, I just turned the exposure up and fired away. If you watch them for a long enough time, you'll got the opportunity to get some shots off. They sometimes pause for a few seconds, so you have to take your chance when you get it.

Oh, also, shoot in RAW and then you have some exposure latitude for +/- in LR (of course I get it as good as possible in camera when shooting, but a little flex in post is nice..and expose to right whenever the conditions allow! ETTR for the win!)

Hope this helps

[Downrigger]

Helpful indeed. Thanks.

[NorthernFocus]

Excellent set and commentary. Nice job.