This is an image from 2006. I think of this image as my first real keeper. The bird is a juvenile female (the beak is dark and it has a dark spot in front of the eye). As allways I want to learn so if you have any comments or critique please let me know.
Konica Minolta 5D
Sigma 70-300mm APO DG MACRO
1/1250, f/7.1, ISO 200, handheld
Noisereduction, shadow/highlight, crop, smartsharpen.
Really nice looking bird there. I only wish for a less distracting BG. Because the vegetation matched the bird's color so closely, it would have been great if you could have eliminated the BG stems. It is still a nice image of an interesting bird.
Almost impossible to get a clean background with these guys and why would you want to as it shows their habitat and by saying that the bird is the same colour as the reeds shows its perfect camoflague-just look at my recent posting of a bearded tit-its where they live-This is an unusally clear image, I think this shows the difference between Europeon photographers styles and those from the States who only seem to like birds large in the frame with perfectly clean backgrounds,Its not a negative thing against the American photographers it just shows the different photographic requirements for the want of a better phrase
You bring up a good point about preferences, culture and their interaction to determine what we like and don't like.
I'm all for "environmental" images provided the environment and the subject compliment rather than detract from one another. Don't get me wrong, I also like the "bird on a stick" style to a certain degree. My favorite images tend to be somewhere in between. To keep from hijacking this thread, maybe we should start a "bird on a stick vs environmental image" thread elsewhere.
As for how this topic relates to the image at hand; I think the environment could be very complementary while showing the camouflage of the subject AND be positioned differently so as to not grow out of the top of the bird's head.
Bearded Tit
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