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Liz Stanley
01-18-2008, 09:40 AM
Hi all, this is my first post. I managed to get close to a flock of cedar waxwings the other day. I love these adorable birds, and I like this photo, but would like to see what others think. It's uncropped, so there's not really any more room to work with. I'm wondering if it's too close. Also, a few other questions that come to mind - is the DOF too shallow, and do the shadows across the bird's body distract? What about the branch in the foreground?

Details: Canon 40D, 500mm f/4 + 1.4x TC, 1/1000s f/5.6 at 700.0mm iso400

Nonda Surratt
01-18-2008, 10:05 AM
Hi Gymell and Welcome!

What a lovely bird, wonderful detail and sharp! The Bg at the top goes so well too. If this was my image I would be tempted to tidy up a bit maybe, say the two dark stick shadows across the breast, the one by the birds beak and possibly the stick right in front of the bird. Really nice exposure I would love to get this close sometime, very nice.

Alfred Forns
01-18-2008, 10:27 AM
Agree with Nonda !!! For your next encounter try giving a little more room to the bird They seem to look better Depth of field wise I would go wide open to minimize detail in the bg Actually at this distance you are not getting much at all

With the couple of enhancements you will have an excellent capture !!!

btw I'm updating profiles Could you please PM your full name so I can update Thanks

Liz Stanley
01-18-2008, 11:45 AM
Thanks for the suggestions. I'll see what I can do to get rid of some of the distracting elements and hopefully post the result!

Mike Boyce
01-18-2008, 03:30 PM
What a beautiful Waxwing Liz,

I am quite envious. I like that you framed the entire bird from head peak to tail.

I've noticed two or three main approaches to bird photography: Portraits, Photo Journalism, and Habitat/Artistic. This image would fall into the portrait area. As a portrait, I believe if you implement the changes previously suggested, you will have a really nice Cedar Waxwing portrait. Perhaps one additional thing to change/remove would be the light area just in front of the bird’s breast. I found that a bit distracting.

I come from a photojournalism (newspaper) background and am trying to move into the habitat/artistic realm personally. The way I see it, images that basically show not much more than the subject are portraits. Photos that include a bit more of background and seem to tell a story (i.e. look like you might see them in a newspaper or general type magazine) are photo journalism images. And the images that capture primarily beauty of the subject, light/shadows, and/or background, are the habitat/artistic type photos.

Old habits die hard. Consequently, if you, like me, want to be more artistic in your approach, try to avoid too many portraits. Whenever possible, give your subjects more space in the direction they are facing. I've seen some creative uses of combining two (or more) separate images into a single image. Sometimes a "portrait" can become a more creative work of art by such efforts.

There is nothing wrong with photographing bird portraits. In fact, lots of folks prefer them and they fill the pages of photo-field guides like Audubon’s. I frequently see such work being purchased at art festivals too. If this is what you are after, you’re on the right track. Either way, you have a really nice image that you can be proud of.

Now, you can help me by checking out the Northern Cardinal I am posting here in just a few moments.

Liz Stanley
01-18-2008, 05:11 PM
Mike,

Thanks for your thoughts. I agree with you about not doing too much of one thing. I do have several other photos of the waxwings where there is a wider view and they are eating berries. Also I was in Alaska a couple of months ago photographing eagles at the Chilkat River, and worked on getting a variety of shots, including portraits, and more environmental angles and behavioral shots. There are only so many photos of an eagle perched in a tree that you can take before it gets boring! So I do try to keep that in mind.

Liz