Project: Backlit Yellowlegs

[Bill Dix]

From Plum Island two weeks ago. I would have liked it better if the birds had all been awake, but it must have been nap time, just before sunset.

D90 | 80-400 VR @ 230mm | ISO 500 | 1/3200s @ f/7.1 | HH out of car window.

[Jim Fenton]

I typically love high key images and don't think I've ever seen one befors as an environmental shot?

My eyes find this one a bit distracting. You have birds in differing positions, some you can barely make out and the underexposure of the subjects...without them being in a sillohete mode just doesn't work for me.

Additionally the green coloring of the grass is fairly saturated and detracts from the underexposed birds which show no detail.

For me. for a high key image to work, the exposure has to be correct on the main subject and the subject itself needs to be the focal point of the image.

[Gary Jones]

I like the idea of the pano crop and the 3 groups of birds. Ditto Jim on the other comments though.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I like it. I find it rather artitistic, and I actually like the green in the grasses. The sleeping poses are typical of mid-day (light looks like it was harsh?) activities (or lack of!) and is OK with me. I do find the lone grass island to be extra and winder what the image would look like without it. To me the image is not underexposed as much as it is meant to be a backlit scene. I do understand Jim's comments though, this is certainly one of those "you like or you don't like" type images:)

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

I agree with the excellent critique by Jim. I think I will like this more as B&W. I am liking the design itself a lot....very OOTB and balanced.

[Bill Dix]

Thank you all for looking. When I initially visualized this, I was thinking of it as a silhouette, more of an environmental graphic than a bird image. As a last-minute processing act, I decided to open and saturate the subjects. I believe Jim has a very good point, since by doing so I was effectively asking the eye to search for some detail in the subjects that didn't exist, rather than just taking in the overall composition. Here's a version converted to b&w (still not a pure silhouette). I actually think I still like seeing the green, but I guess it's a matter of personal taste. In any event, neither one will be a wall-hanger -- there's too much overlapping of birds and hummocks to make a compelling image. I appreciate all the comments. (Daniel, I tried a version without the empty 'island', but opted for this view.)