Getting out of YOUR Comfort Zone

[Fabs Forns]

This time I'm threatening your comfort zone as opposed to mine. I'm perfectly comfortable with this composition and use as often as I find it, OOF objects totally blurred like a veil framing my subject. One of my images with this approach was chosen for Nature's Best Backyard Contest in 07.
Are you comfortable with this? Does it bother you? Do you find distracting? Are you able to try and see it through the creator's eyes? When you see something out of your comfort zone, how do you react?

D3, 200-400?4 VR plus 1.7X
f/8, 1/500, ISO 800

Wiltless Bay Ecological Reserve, thanks to the Parks and Natural Areas Division of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.

[Ramon M. Casares]

As I said in a comment yesterday, it all comes down to the gut feeling, when I am looking at pictures, I am not looking at them with a technical eye, I look at them as open minded as I can and in search for creativity, for personal aproach, about this particular aproach, I have to say that I love it and as you, whenever I have the chance to compose an image like this I just go for it, I've actually done it very recently with a very cooperative Crane. So yes, for me it works and if it doesn't it is not about right or wrong but just about how or what does it make me feel. I am not a photgorapher who seeks to amaze other photographers with my pictures, if I do, well great, but I rather amaze everybody else as is them who need to get involve and more in touch with nature! We already are :)

If I may, here's mnie ;)

[Manos Papadomanolakis]

I really love the foreground,bg and pose!!!

[Fabs Forns]

As I said in a comment yesterday, it all comes down to the gut feeling, when I am looking at pictures, I am not looking at them with a technical eye, I look at them as open minded as I can and in search for creativity, for personal aproach, about this particular aproach, I have to say that I love it and as you, whenever I have the chance to compose an image like this I just go for it, I've actually done it very recently with a very cooperative Crane. So yes, for me it works and if it doesn't it is not about right or wrong but just about how or what does it make me feel. I am not a photgorapher who seeks to amaze other photographers with my pictures, if I do, well great, but I rather amaze everybody else as is them who need to get involve and more in touch with nature! We already are :)

If I may, here's mnie ;)

This is why we get along so well. I'm also guided by gut impressions, and I don't always look at images from a technical point of view :o:o

When you see me worrying about a little noise or a branch here and there, I wasn't too impressed with the picture. I go by what moves me or leaves me untouched. It's a matter of personality I guess. If my gut likes it, technicals imperfections don't mean a thing to me.

I like yours very much!

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

After seeing and studying both images and reading the comments above, I come down to the point that photography is so so rich, one can never get enough of it!
Yes is true I love clean BG's, good compos and sharp subjects, but I also enjoy seen pictures like this ones above, both full of good details, great poses and at the same time very different to what we are used to see.
Here is where the 'gut feeling' comes to stage. Thank you both for resurrecting that part that I believe I have lost:).

[Ramon M. Casares]

"When you see me worrying about a little noise or a branch here and there, I wasn't too impressed with the picture. I go by what moves me or leaves me untouched. It's a matter of personality I guess. If my gut likes it, technicals imperfections don't mean a thing to me."

Amen to that :)

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Fabs,

Personally, at first glance I would think the OOF stuff is distracting, but that is thanks to all the wonderful creators of perfect and clean images. They are to blame. I had a private (now posted) discussion with Artie about my kind of dislike for the overdoing of the clone and other enhancement tools as opposed to just leaving the image natural as it was at the time it was captured. Nice to do things differently I say. :)

[Jasper Doest]

Fabs,

I love this approach and use it quite often....as long as you keep enough space for the virtual legs it is fine with me. What I don't understand in this creation is the placement of the bird....(with that clipped tail).On the other hand....if you would have included the tail, the puffin wouldn't have enough space to look into. From my personal point of view a horizontal composition would have worked better.....that way you could have included a nice OOF FG and have the tail in frame as well....

[Nicki Gwynn Jones]

Hi Fabs,
I love the 'veil' effect in you picture and I ALWAYS go for the gut feeling ....sometimes the technical stuff drives me crazy - if the picture doesn't leave me wowed then I'm not happy.
Regards,
Nicki

[Axel Hildebrandt]

It works for me, and I might raise the color temperature a few degrees and/or increase saturation. Thanks for showing!

[Daniel Cadieux]

Fabs,

I love this approach and use it quite often....as long as you keep enough space for the virtual legs it is fine with me.

There's another "rule" to break when and if appropriate. If Roman would have done so with his Crane, the image would not have been as successful.:)

I also like Fabs' version, and I don't see it as out of my comfort zone. It looks and feels perfectly good to me.

[Jim Fenton]

Personally, I like the framing and I really like the OOF foreground...I could care less that the birds tail is hidden.

There are two nits.....one if the white OOF bit in front of the birds chest in the grass and the second is the darn lighter volored OOF grass, branch or whatever which is front of the birds wing.

I really need the opportunity to see one of these beautiful creatures in person one of these days!

[John Chardine]

I use gut feeling too Fabs, and I like the green OOF foreground, I would just like less of it! Because there is essentially little information in the green, my gut says devote less real estate to it. If you cropped off the bottom I think you would retain the essential feel of the image, and increase the impact of the subject, which is the puffin not the grass; IMO of course.

And now off topic because I can't help myself (!)- the small fish the puffin is carrying are an indication of a bad year for puffins. They really like larger capelin and will get these if they are available, but these little juvenile fish are bags of water and not much else so the nutrition is not so good for the chick.