Birds and others from this last week.

[DickyOZ]

Dusky Moorhen feeding a chick.


Banded Rail


My favourite subject - a Splendid Wren. It was hunting spiders in the deep shade behind it so I wound the ISO up to 1600 when it hopped into the sunlight. These little things never stop moving for even half a second.


A blue dasher dragonfly soaking up the sun.


Hiding in full view




Dicky.

[Shadowman]

Nice series.

[bnnrcn]

I can't remember the name of the big one on the tree #1,#3 and #5 are my favs

[Chrisclick]

Nice shots, Richard. Love the vibrance of #2.

Just a couple of points, if you don't mind me mentioning them; I think #1 could have used a little more DOF. The feathers at the rear of the Moorhen are nice and sharp, however the head of the parent bird and the chick, are noticeably soft. It looks as though there was enough light to use f/7.1, or perhaps f/8 to have the entire parent bird and the chick nice and sharp. At just under 100mm, I think you may have been able to slow the shutter from 1/640 to say 1/400 to compensate for the smaller aperture and still achieve a similar exposure.

I think the wren in #3 is actually a Superb Fairy Wren. While it is a nice shot, there appears to be a halo of lighter area around the tail, neck area, and breast of the bird. I suppose it is from some lightening done in PP. It pays to be very careful with your selection technique, or if you use a brush tool, not to have have it set too soft, as the feathering (of the brush) will result in these tell-tale signs.

I hope you don't mind the advice, I also hope it helps.

[NorthernFocus]

Nice set of images. That is one big reptile in the tree. When visiting NSW a couple of years ago I chased after quite a few of those fairy wrens. Active little rascals. A quick kneel down would have given a more advantageous perspective on the moorehen. Overall a nice weekend shoot.

[deetheturk]

Lovely series Dicky, thanks for sharing!

[IzzieK]

Not being a bird shooter (I'm try...ing....) I have not been able to photograph a wren at all. They're little devils!!! I am not keen on that lizard. I am more scared of it than it of me. I love #1 -- it is colourful. #2 looks like a lady one if I am not mistaken...the dragonfly shot is a little bit too busy for me...Just my little opinion...

[Ziggy]

Very nice, enjoyed viewing.

[Wavelength]

Excellent set and very pleasing too

[DickyOZ]

Nice shots, Richard. Love the vibrance of #2.

Just a couple of points, if you don't mind me mentioning them; I think #1 could have used a little more DOF. The feathers at the rear of the Moorhen are nice and sharp, however the head of the parent bird and the chick, are noticeably soft. It looks as though there was enough light to use f/7.1, or perhaps f/8 to have the entire parent bird and the chick nice and sharp. At just under 100mm, I think you may have been able to slow the shutter from 1/640 to say 1/400 to compensate for the smaller aperture and still achieve a similar exposure.

I think the wren in #3 is actually a Superb Fairy Wren. While it is a nice shot, there appears to be a halo of lighter area around the tail, neck area, and breast of the bird. I suppose it is from some lightening done in PP. It pays to be very careful with your selection technique, or if you use a brush tool, not to have have it set too soft, as the feathering (of the brush) will result in these tell-tale signs.

I hope you don't mind the advice, I also hope it helps.

Thanks Chris, you are quite correct it is a Superb (or Blue) Wren - I must have had a senior moment. The settings were for deep shade and I didn't get the chance to change them so my attempts at PP didn't didn't improve the image which was a heavy crop from this:

I also got a Variegated Wren but it was too deep in the dense scrub and at 1/10sec it was blurred.
I appreciate the advice on DOF; I must switch to Aperture mode for those shots where the subject is slow moving.

Advice is always welcome.
Regards,
Dicky.

[DickyOZ]

I can't remember the name of the big one on the tree #1,#3 and #5 are my favs

It's a Lace Monitor Lizard. Round here they get to about 2 metres long; at that size they have just a hint of menace.

Dicky

[just me]

DickyOZ.......thank you for sharing these nice images .......and welcome to Cambridge in Colour.......

Griddi.......