Spring is slowly coming in northwestern Ontario - most of the snow is gone, but the the lakes are still frozen over. In the interim - here's a shot from warmer climates --> A set-up photo of a male Ladderback Woodpecker from southern Arizona.
Excellent image! I feel that the perch is a bit dominant. What do you think about this presentation - I feel it helps to reduce the effect of the perch...?
Nice setup and great choice in the perch. I like the holes in the perch, the compliment the contrasted markings on the woodpecker. Nice background too. I like the repost with more space on top too.
Maybe a touch of fill light on the head might bring up the reds and the eye? Just a thought. Since it's a setup I feel you can really work the image afterwords to get the most out of it.
Well done image and well done repost. I would however take some off the bottom of the repost. We generally want a bit more room above the subject than below.
Is the thing below the lower leg part of the foot???
Sharp with a nice EXP.
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In the original post, there is considerably more room above the bird than below. And even though Ofer did some great work at the top of the perch tree, there is more room above the bird than below. To my eye, when there is more room above the bird than below, the image looks top heavy and the resulting composition looks unbalanced. And I feel that way for both vertical and horizontal images. I have, therefore, been teaching folks for more than two decades, to leave more room above the bird than below. There are of course, on a case by case basis, exceptions. I do like that when folks break a rule or guideline, that they have a reason for doing so.
Getting back to Ofer's repost, he has in my very humble opinion, cropped much to closely from our right, in fact, clipping the perch tree needlessly. Another thing that I have been teaching folks for more than two decades is as follows (and I quote), "If an object is worth including in the frame, it is almost always best to include the whole thing with at least a small border around it."
Folks wishing to improve their bird photography might wish to consider the two principles above.
Taking advantage of the good work that Ofer did at the top of the post I created the repost here (while adding a bit more at the top). I believe that this repost offers a far more balanced and pleasing composition (without clipping the perch tree) and that the result is a far stronger image.
BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.
BIRDS AS ART Online Store: we will not sell you junk. 35 years of long lens experience. Please e-mail with gear questions.
Check out the new SONY e-Guide and videos that I did with Patrick Sparkman here. Ten percent discount for BPN members,
Here is another option. This one follows the 1/3 space--1/3 bird--1/3 perch tree principle that is detailed in ABP II (along with everything mentioned in Pane 9 and pretty much everything that I learned about bird photography between 1998 and 2006 :)
BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.
BIRDS AS ART Online Store: we will not sell you junk. 35 years of long lens experience. Please e-mail with gear questions.
Check out the new SONY e-Guide and videos that I did with Patrick Sparkman here. Ten percent discount for BPN members,
Ladderback Woodpecker
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