Does this work at all - Black Headed Gull

[Bill Nuttall]

I notice that OOF areas do not seem to appear on images in the Avian section, were the quality of images is superb

But this was my favourite shot from yesterday ……. situational

What do you think?

[Diane Miller]

Not every bird shot has to be a cleanly staged studio portrait. The vegetation here is softly lighted, without over-saturation, distracting highlights or heavy shadows. It blends in with a range of depth and matches the color of the mid-ground to the bird's left, so it works very well for me. The soft OOF foreground areas are similar to the OOF beaches or water seen when the lens is almost on the ground.

I think the picture could be improved by moving the head out of the center. I'd crop from the top halfway to the vegetation and from the right about a third of the way to the beak. I'd clone out the white object in the BG. I'd love to see a repost with your interpretation if the idea of cropping appeals to you.

[Bill Nuttall]

Not every bird shot has to be a cleanly staged studio portrait. The vegetation here is softly lighted, without over-saturation, distracting highlights or heavy shadows. It blends in with a range of depth and matches the color of the mid-ground to the bird's left, so it works very well for me. The soft OOF foreground areas are similar to the OOF beaches or water seen when the lens is almost on the ground.

I think the picture could be improved by moving the head out of the center. I'd crop from the top halfway to the vegetation and from the right about a third of the way to the beak. I'd clone out the white object in the BG. I'd love to see a repost with your interpretation if the idea of cropping appeals to you.

Thanks Diane

is this any better?

should have said
Nikon D750
Nikon 600mm f4 (non VR)
Nikon TC14Ell
f8 - ISO360 - 1/1600th sec
+1/3 EV - bright sunlit day - but shadows were more of a worry than highlights
LR + PS
Hampshire - UK - this week
inland Lake

[Diane Miller]

I think so, but would love to hear from others. And, most important, what to you think? But now the white tail peeking through the vegetation is more prominent. The indistinct vegetation around it makes it easy to clone it out, but everyone has their own limits about things like that.

I'm surprised it was full sun -- looks like soft light. Well handled!

[Bill Nuttall]

I think so, but would love to hear from others. And, most important, what to you think? But now the white tail peeking through the vegetation is more prominent. The indistinct vegetation around it makes it easy to clone it out, but everyone has their own limits about things like that.

I'm surprised it was full sun -- looks like soft light. Well handled!

I think that it is better Diane and also more interesting, removing the distracting OOF stuff on the right edge …… I'm always a little weary about too close a crop as such do show poor technique
Also - I was focused on the bird "looking into space" i.e. looking into space on the right - so ideally I would have pulled the bird to the left, but I did not have the canvas.

In general I see the merit of the two types of shots - i.e. bird and very clean bg or as I have posted which I see more of a bird in it's environment

I can see why OOF foreground areas are generally not as attractive as OOF bg ……. and I generally feel that this is true

I'm learning from this forum to focus more, (if you excuse the pun), on the shot that I have taken to get the best out of it from what it is.

It would be good to have the views of others versus the more "traditional" type images

Thanks again

[Sandy Witvoet]

Hi Bill! I do not have much of a problem with the OOF foliage because the bird pops nicely. From the OP, I would wish for a tad more room to the left (which I think you mentioned that you didn't have?) And then, yes, as Diane said cropping the top, and the RHS a bit. Looks well exposed and details on the bird (especially head and neck) look good.