First Use of New Toys: Rock Dove aka "Feral" Pigeon

[Jay Gould]

Hi, here is #2 of four "first" images; no PP - straightened and cloned by crop ;).

Camera: 5D2
Lens: EF 300 f/2.8
Extender: none
Flash: none
ISO: 1000
Mode: AV
Speed: 1/2000
Aperture: f/5.6
Exp Comp: none
Metering: Evaluative
AF Drive: AI Servo AF

One doesn't think of the lowly common pigeon as stately and beautiful until you get up close and personal through a lens!

All C&Cs greatly appreciated.

[Tony Whitehead]

Good fun getting out with new toys, Jay. Common birds are great practice and no less beautiful for their abundance. Low angle throws BG OOF nicely but even lower may have been good if possible. Light looks relatively soft but from right so some fill flash may have been an option to open up the relatively shaded areas on the neck. A slight crop from the right would decentre the bird a bit. Nice striding pose.

[Jay Gould]

Good fun getting out with new toys, Jay. Common birds are great practice and no less beautiful for their abundance. Low angle throws BG OOF nicely but even lower may have been good if possible. Light looks relatively soft but from right so some fill flash may have been an option to open up the relatively shaded areas on the neck. A slight crop from the right would decentre the bird a bit. Nice striding pose.

Hi Tony, the only way I was getting lower was to lie flat on the ground. I was sitting and resting the lens on my knees. ;)

When you say "light looks relatively soft but from right", if I understand what you are saying there was no harsh sun? It was 3:47pm and starting to overcast.

Crop: in relation to the original the bird's eye is on the 1/3 line. If I cropped further from the right wouldn't that move the eye towards the center? I added more canvass to the left side so that the entire shadow is present, and while that moved the eye towards the center of the image it also moved the whole bird to the right. Do you like that better?

Thanks for playing!

[Tony Whitehead]

Hi Jay,
Lying down on the ground is usually required to get lower - not as comfortable but the images are usually worth it and last longer than the discomfort. A right-angle finder and beanbag or ground-pod of some description are useful at times to save the neck. The diffused light is revealed by soft edges to the shadow but it is still leaving the left side of the neck and breast in shade. My suggested crop for the original is attached. The eye remains close to a 1/3 intersection but the centre of gravity of the bird moves a little to the right giving it room to move into so adds a slight feeling of dynamism to the image. Your pano version with extended canvas achieves a similar result. At the end of the day it's all personal preference and the "rules" for composition are just guides.

[Ramon M. Casares]

Very nice walking pose, BG looks good although I do agree that a lower anlge would've given you and even better BG, light is soft and detail is nice, colors look nice as well, I like the second post with pano crop better :)
Congratulations Jay!