A great shot Dave. I saw one of those birds in the Washington Dc Zoo. My attempt was terrible. I like the vignette, you created ?
I guess if we were "competing' with Joe A lot of us would not even post a bird.... I would, it would just fail miserably lol.
Once again Great shot!
That is a really pretty bird. Well photographed and processed too.
For me, Dave, the bird is too far to the right, and looking out of the picture. If it was facing the other way it would look better.
So, personally speaking, I would crop a little from the left side and top. Possibly a mix of crop and clone from the left side leaves.
And I would do away with the vignette to look completely natural. This shot is good enough without it.
Nice shot Dave,
I can see why you didn't crop the left off - there are tail feathers to include and while there is a crop to be had (and I know what Geoff means), it would remove one of the birds defining features.
This is one of those times where a 'looking over its shoulder' pose would be better - if only you could make it do that - when presented with this situation, I'll wait until it does that - or more usually just flies off.
I would be tempted to cheat on the eye, there is a pixel sized highlight on the top eye lid that might be cloned to a better place.
HTH,
Very pretty little bird indeed. I find composition can be tough with long tailfeathered birds....although that is part of what makes them fun, right?
Dave's over the shoulder pose idea is a good one, but you must pay the model a little extra. This posing challenge with birds is at least part of why I am driven to chase them myself. Well done and keep at it.
Thanks for all the feedback.
Yes, spot on Dave, that is why I cropped as I did. One of the (many) things that I have learned on CiC is that there can be a real dilemma with wildlife photography. The wild life enthusiasts who photograph (which if I'm honest is where I would put myself) want to see the animal presented in its environment, the "real" photographer will focus more on the composition and image quality. Sometimes it's possible to get both right, but probably not always.I can see why you didn't crop the left off - there are tail feathers to include and while there is a crop to be had (and I know what Geoff means), it would remove one of the birds defining features.
Yes, right again. This bird rarely does that, and never when it's in front of my lens. When it takes off, it also flies down at first, it's a fairly chunky bird, and it's very difficult to get a good shot of its fabulous iridescent turquoise wings - but I'll do it one day'looking over its shoulder'
To vignette of not? Obviously down to personal taste, but I suppose maybe a good motto is "if in doubt, leave it out" but I will keep experimenting.
Get thee behind me, Satan!I would be tempted to cheat on the eye, there is a pixel sized highlight on the top eye lid that might be cloned to a better place.
Cheers,
Dave
Last edited by davidedric; 21st January 2013 at 06:48 PM.