Hi, Ninox, and welcome.
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A couple of pointers for you, if I may ...
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Ninox wrote:And those comments from others on how good this is just illustrates how little most people know about photographing birds.
No, not really. That is certainly your opinion, and you are welcome to share it with us.
People are entitled to - encouraged to, even - comment about how they feel about any image posted here. You are free to agree or disagree with their opinion, but their opinion, just like yours, is exactly that - an opinion.
Some people like instant coffee too. Or watching Australian Idol. I might not agree with their choices and opinions, but I have no right to criticise their opinions. I may disagree, but not criticise.
On the other hand, members are free to critique the images of others in a professional and non-personal manner.
I am not a very good bird photographer, but I can offer a few pointers. After all, this is a critiquing forum is it not?
Yes, this forum, and especially this section, is all about critiquing of images.
But by your own admission, you state that you are not very good at this type of photography. This, too, was your very first post here, and with respect, we have no knowledge of your experience, your credentials ... basically - and without wanting to put too fine a point on it - your credibility.
So I invite you to post some of your images here. As you say you are not very good at it, by shooting and posting and accepting the critiques offered, you should see an improvement in your work, and then you should be able to remove the need for that qualification from your post.
Let me assure you that we have some of the country's most talented photographers, and the some of the country's best photographic trainers, as members here. You have everything to gain, and nothing to lose.
- Have the light come from behind you, at the subject for nice even lighting
- Get as close as possible (you get much better detail)
- Eliminate as many distracting elements as possible
- Have some eye contact with the main subject
- Place the main subject off center (most instances, but sometimes centering works
Now, in looking at the image that Bob submitted, you might care to note that it was shot outside, in sunlight, in a somewhat non-natural situation for the birds shown in the image. Let's more closely examine your general suggestions here ...
Being in sunlight, and with the opportunity to shoot the birds only present when the birds are in that location, that suggests to me that the use of the light, as available, is much more important that trying to get it "perfect". Better to get this shot, than no shot, right?
Most power poles that I see seem to be something in the realm of maybe 15 or 20 meters tall. I'm not convinced of the soundness of any suggestion that Bob should take a ladder and climb the pole in order to get closer to his subjects; instead, he has used a long lens to achieve his goal, with a reasonable outcome. How would you suggest he gets closer to these very flighty and elusive subjects?
I would contend that, for this image, the elements that we see - the birds, the wires, and the parts of the power pole structure, are all essential elements for an image that tries to depict a contrast between
modern man-made life and nature.
I agree that eye contact in an image is good. I can see how, though, in this instance - because of the distances and heights involved - Bob might have had a wee bit of difficulty in enticing these birds to look at him. I don't know if he threw birdseed in their direction, but I suspect that that may not have helped either.
In point of fact, I suspect that Bob knows more than just a little about image composition, and the choices he has about where to place primary and secondary subjects within an image. Your suggestion here is valid for some images, but it might not be valid for others.
To be honest the picture doesn't do anything for me. The Woodswallow plonked dead center is perfect indication of someone using the typical center AF point to attain focus,
Why would you say this? We have no such information, and no basis upon which to make that statement. In fact, if you look at the insulator, you might notice that while its closest edge (to the photographer) appears to be in focus, its securing bolt - at the top of the insulator - is not in sharp focus. But the bird's head is fully in focus, with feather detail being clearly seen. The insulator is clearly at the edge of the DoF that the (long) lens in use offers for the given aperture, and this is more clearly illustrated by the fact that the second bird in the image is quite softly focused.
My criticisms of this image would be to observe that the wb is slightly off, and that, for the composition, I might have liked to see the image with the bird moved a little towards the right of this frame as we see it, so that it appears to be "looking into" the image.
In saying that, I recognise that this means panning the camera a little to the left, but we have no knowledge of the various challenges and options that Bob was presented with when making this image. Perhaps there were just wires there, wires which might not have helped Bob to present the image as he wished. I don't know. Perhaps Bob wished to have the leading lines of the parts of the pole that he chose to include in the image?
Again, I don't know. I wasn't there, making the image, and making those decisions. Bob was, and he has presented his image for critique, and he accepts and discusses those critiques as need be.
I respect him for that. I invite you to share your images, and have yourself benefit from honest critique.
Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2010 8:15 pm
