Dining Alfresco

[ucci]

A pair of Lorikeets which were part of a group which dropped by a friend's back porch where she puts out trays of bird seed for them. She has regular visitors from a whole range of parrots and other birds and her back porch is a wonderful spot for bird watchers where one can get up close and personal.
Thanks for viewing.

[rpcrowe]

Great shot of two beautiful birds. Did you ask them to pose like this?

I suggest that darkening two spots on the background along with the wooden pole that they are sitting on might put more emphasis on the birds.

As far as the birds go, I used Viveza to increase structure, balance the shadows and add a smidgen of contrast.



I wonder about a closer crop on the birds...

[madcrow]

Great image and super models, good capture.

[NorthernFocus]

Lovely birds and quite the pose. Oz is hard to beat for bird watching.

[Shadowman]

Nice, I would consider cloning out the bokeh behind the one bird's head.

[IzzieK]

Richard...you lost the colour of the birds. The real colour is the one of the original shot of UCCI.

[Wavelength]

Lovely : )

[ucci]

Thank you all for watching and posting helpful comments. And to Richard, a special thank you. I had tried much of what you suggested but backed off from it. As Izzie commented I found a disappointing loss of colour to the plumage. Also found darkening the post seemed to make it lose 'perspective and depth' and come out flat and dull. So I went back closer to the original capture.
Once again thank you all.

And a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all those for whom this time has a special significance.