Prickly Perch

[Paul Wolf]

This is a cactus wren sitting on a large barrel cactus, shot on a recent trip to Phoenix. It was taken on South Mountain in the late afternoon.

Canon 20d
Canon 100-400mm L, IS
1/50 sec., f/6.3, ISO 100
On a tripod

Paul

[dadas115]

Wow, another beautiful shot of a very interesting subject. I love the color.

Greg

[Seb]

This is a cactus wren sitting on a large barrel cactus, shot on a recent trip to Phoenix. It was taken on South Mountain in the late afternoon.

Canon 20d
Canon 100-400mm L, IS
1/50 sec., f/6.3, ISO 100
On a tripod

Paul

Hello Paul,

i like the level of details (fine lense!) and the bluried background looks superb. However, I am not sure that I like to have both the cactus and the bird in focus as they seem to compete for my attention. On the other hand, I am not sure that you could afford to have the cactus out of focus as it takes a lot of space in the foreground and as the bird is partly hidden by the cactus (though one). I like your composition and how it is framed but I am concerned by the dof...

Perhaps someone else could come with a suggestion....

Seb

[jar_e]

Hello Paul,

i like the level of details (fine lense!) and the bluried background looks superb. However, I am not sure that I like to have both the cactus and the bird in focus as they seem to compete for my attention. On the other hand, I am not sure that you could afford to have the cactus out of focus as it takes a lot of space in the foreground and as the bird is partly hidden by the cactus (though one). I like your composition and how it is framed but I am concerned by the dof...

Perhaps someone else could come with a suggestion....

Seb

I agree fully. My eye moves towards the centre of the picture, where the darker needles are. Though, as Seb pointed out, a loss of focus in the cactus would throw this picture for a loop. I love the colors in here, and the composition is great, maybe a tighter crop on the bird?!

I'm stumped.

Jared

[paulnj]

I love the framing here!

next time you are in pheonix.... go to the botanical gardens! AVAIN species galore and at very close distances! I was there last july and wanted to never leave