Turning myself in....
Ok HAP, take your best shot.
I keep reading about the Head Angle Police, but frankly, some of the images that get the "the HAP are gonna get you" warning don't really look bad to me (ie Cattle Egret Landing by Alberto Oria).
So, I'm sacrificing this one taken at Ft. DeSoto. Can I get an overview of the fine print on head-angle?
Thanks,
Amy D.
P.S.:
Nikon D70s
70-300VR @ 300mm
ISO 400
1/250 @f/7.1
Sometimes I think it could happen that a photograph could be loved by the whole world except the photographer himself/herself. Anyhow, personally I think this photograph looks tilted and that I would sharpen it a bit more. I don't think the selling point of this photo is the colors since I believe it was shot on a cloudy day and the subject itself is primarily white, greys and black in color. ;)
Thanks Desmond,
Here is a repost - rotated - I made sure the legs were parallel to the gridlines, and sharpened a bit.
Amy
Hi Amy,
Actually I agree with you on the HA issue. I see pictures posted on the main forum that don't get critisized by the HA police when they definitely would on this forum. Still, at the end of the day it is surely a matter of personal preference as to what makes an ideal image.
Regards,
Nicki
i think in an image like this, as long as you have an eye it's OK!! i like it! nice job!
I've just remembered that Artie likes to see the face parallel to the plane of the image sensor in situations like this. I think this is right - someone please correct me if I'm wrong.
Hi Nicki - You are correct - In preening images the face is to be parallel to the imaging plane - I know this for a fact. See my bad hair day post in the OFTB forum :) LOL
Now heavens knows I am new to this whole "head police thing" but basically it is this: When the bird is doing normal activity, you want his eye and beak to either line up even with or turn more towards your camera sensor. If the beak is leaning back even a little bit it tends to make the viewer feel like the bird is disengaged with the viewer and that tends to break the emotional bond with the bird in the photograph.
That said, every rule is meant to be broken...remember that! If an image such as this one shows a bird in a position where eye contact is not possible then this would be an exception to the HAP rule (at least in my humble opinion.) There is a very distinct reason for the head turn and angle in this image and the viewer can understand that. His one eye, although not focused on the viewer, IS in sight and that's a real plus. When I look at this image, I feel like I am being let in on the secret life of this bird by getting to view his preening habits; therefore, I engage with the image and want to look even closer at how he is doing what he's doing. For that reason, this image, bad head angle and all, totally works for me.
Would it have been stronger with him staring down the camera? No doubt! But this is really lovely as well. Good job, Amy!
"Image sensor, Image plane" OH!!! That thing we used to call the "Film Plane". Got it. ;)
Thanks Jules -
Yes - wouldn't it have been nice if he'd suddenly looked up from his ablutions with a beak full of feathers and stared into the camera?
I guess that even when I'm taking portraits of people, I like for them not to know I'm taking their picture, but rather prefer to capture them in a kind of "private moment". I'm always saying "just ignore me". So, I guess with wildlife, for some reason, we want to believe that they want to interact with us - which - I think they generally do not. And that's ok with me as a photographer.
Maybe that's what makes such a great impact - when they DO seem to recognize us or acknowledge our existence when a photo is taken.... It fulfills something in us that wants interaction.
I do agree that having an eye that is in focus, and a subject that is not facing away/ moving away from the photographer is desirable.
I just wanted to clarify what we are talking about before I really started getting paranoid....
:)
Amy
Oh Yes, Lance, I saw your "bad hair day", and loved it. I even showed my husband, who generally takes these things in stride..... What a moment! You could just hear him saying "Ow, ow, ow, ow.....".Originally Posted by Lance Peters
Classic - and maybe the first time I saw someone write about the HAP. What, you weren't going to take the picture because the makeup wasn't right? Maybe we need a forum called "trained animals shot in studio conditions".
Thanks for your post.
Amy D.
It is also a sign that says the bird - especially the small ones -knows you're there and you'd better work fast because they are about to take off :D:D
Amy. I like it as presented, I think you have a lot of good details in your bird and it's very sharp. As far as the HAP, I'm one guy who is always getting lashes from them, to the extent that some of my friends have offered me bail money !!!!!!!
Congrats,
Hi Amy, your bird is sharp, the exposure is perfect and I love seeing birds doing their "thing" so all-in-all I like this and I think it does meet the head angle criteria. Good Job!
I think Jules gave quite the good explanation! I once read this as well, rule are made to be broken but you need to know and understand the rules first..Interesting concept!
Quite like the image Amy
Thanks for all of your comments. I had frankly overlooked this shot from last fall, and the subject made me drag him out and take another look.
I once got some good advice while taking a workshop on underwater photography: Come back to your photos after some months, after you've forgotten what you originally intended to shoot, and you will find a bunch of new shots that you'd passed up before simply because they didn't match the vision you had in mind when you shot it - yet they're perfectly good shots.
I think this is one of those for me.
Thanks everyone,
Amy
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