Finally the elusive 7! So close yet so far for a FS ribbon but I'll take the FS PB. Thank you all for the votes of confidence in a wildlife image and most importantly your very valued comments. Would you believe I got a validation request and 1x.com rejected it! LOL.
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A (m) Village Weaver to be precise (Ploceus cucullatus) previously known as the Spotted-backed Weaver or Black-headed Weaver.
Shot in the wild at our world renowned Kruger National Park, a 4 day round trip from my home in Johannesburg. I didn't go there for the weavers, as I get them at home too however the opportunities are more frequent. I'm very chuffed with this. They are so busy flying in and out tearing strips off reeds from which to weave their nest. They do not hold still for very long at all. Bird togs hopefully will vote this at least a 7 based on technicals and difficulty but more importantly comment. Non birders will vote 6 or less? I should be so lucky to get 6's in a FS :) Studio, architecture and landscape shots will no doubt trounce it :)
NEF>TIFF, Crop (In order to have any chance it had to fill the frame, be bright and colourful), TopazLabs Adj 5, Protect Highlights and Shadows, Sharpen Radius 50, Sharpen 1.00, Boost Saturation, DeNoise5, Dodge Red Ring in Eye and Catchlight, Resize, SFW
From a 6.5x start it peaked at 7.28 shortly before roll-over.
Outtakes (uncropped) the frames before & after my submission:
1. 3. to see what they make from the strips; a nest in my garden in 2009
4.
Statistics
Place: 4 out of 246 Avg (all users): 7.1429 Avg (commenters): 8.8667 Avg (participants): 7.0112 Avg (non-participants): 7.5333 Views since voting: 3290 Views during voting: 199 Votes: 119 Comments: 36 Favorites: 3 (view)
Congrats Harvey on a 7+ score. Great shot and just missing out on a ribbon but at the rate you are now going in the FS..it will be comming soon I know. HM a great honour still and well...1x? whats that? Their loss :)
Congrats on the score and the 4th Harvey
In a few days/weeks you can shoot them in Jhb too - no need to go to the Kruger :-). Next we want to see "stage 2" - aka the building of the nest :-).
Wow! You captured some fabulous details on this Weaver - love all the detail seen on the wings, torso, and legs. This little guy is a bright and colorful little bird. I also like how you captured some action as he/she is stripping the grass stalk for materials to build a nest.
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