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Inspiring and Supporting Photographers of Australian Birds

Willie Wagtail

Willie Wagtail (Image ID 29049)
Photographed byCon Boekel on Fri 5th Jan, 2018 and uploaded on Sat 6th Jan, 2018 .
Resolution1050x1050
Viewed479
ID29049
CommentThis image ignores the convention that we should have clear eyes in good bird images.
It does have wings, which are just as important for Willie Wagtails. Note the alulae* are fully deployed. The rounded wing tips echo those of Spitfires. For both Willie Wagtails and Spitfires the rounded wing times give superior aerial acrobatic capacity. This capability is important in dodging aerial predators.
I felt some tension while placing the bird in the picture frame. There was too much noise in an early attempt which had far more bird in the frame. So I reduced the size of the bird in the frame. This (plus some noise reduction in PSE 13) addressed the noise problem but left the problem that the body of the bird is headed in one direction and the head/beak is headed in another direction. I kept fiddling with the placement in the frame, with the crop function and with the grid lines without being entirely satisfied with this compromise. I blame the bird.
I trialed a thin black margin to echo the blacks in the Willie Wagtail and to life the somewhat muted colours in the frame.

*I prefer the term 'bastard wing'.
EquipmentCanon 5D Mk IV
Canon EF 500mm 1:4 L IS 11 USM
Handheld
f/5.6
1/4000 sec
ISO-800
0 step
500 mm
Processed using first DPP 4 and then PSE 13
LocationLake Gininderra, Australian Capital Territory
Keywordsin flight, adult, creative image
This image is not available for download.
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