I photographed this Harlequin last week at the Barnegat Jetty. I used Alien Skin Snap Art Oil Paint w/ hot press paper for the effect. What I liked about the image was the way he was looking right at me and the water in the background.
Great looking duck, and cute looking pose, Denise. Nice color & BG. I like the texture to those shiny black mussels? and the diagonal line they make in comp. Nice light touch with the processing and texture. I was wondering about might being too centered, but with the head-on look, I think it works.
Hi Denise, I love these ducks even though I don't get to see them that often up here. I like the snap art look and the dead-on stare from this guy, but what I like most is the mussels. I have not seen mussels in your previous jetty images...is this due to a low tide maybe?
I like the water and the head-on look, too. The water -- and, in fact -- the mussels echo the colors in the duck, and that gives the image a nice consistency. The water also serves as a good negative space that curves well around the subject. Brendan mentioned that the harlequin is centered but that it works with the head-on look. I think he's on to something, and I played with the cropping to incorporate his thoughts. Cropping some from the left moved the body of the bird (the visual center of mass) away from the center and centered its head left-to-right (so it's definitely looking straight at us). Cropping from the top moved the head a bit further from the vertical center.
I'll be interested in what you and others think about that approach.
The crop looks fine but so does the original. Nice stare, nice water. BTW, when there is three times as much room from the front of the duck to the frame edge than there is from the tail tip to the frame edge the bird is not at all centered.... If it were centered, those two distances would be the same .
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. . . BTW, when there is three times as much room from the front of the duck to the frame edge than there is from the tail tip to the frame edge the bird is not at all centered.... If it were centered, those two distances would be the same .
Yes, I remember that from grade school. Later on, however, I became interested in art and learned about visual mass . . .
Well, I have no training in art but I do prefer the original composition by a small margin..... I guess that I will need to change the name of my business.....
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,
Yes, I remember that from grade school. Later on, however, I became interested in art and learned about visual mass . . .
Another thought: if you were talking about visual mass, whatever that is, why did you say that the bird was "centered" when we both agree that it is not centered in the original post? (I do by the way, understand compositional balance.)
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,
Thank you all for the comments and for offering your opinions.
Dennis, I feel that with your crop has actually made the duck seem more centered both top and bottom and right to left but with a straight on head pose both crops would be fine. I am partial to the OP . Ideally if the dip in the mussels on the lower right of the frame weren't there I would have preferred some off the bottom and left.
Wish we had these ducks near us, very handsome. Love the detail and texture in the mussels. Really love the way the water has reproduced with the pp you've used.
Painted Harlequin
. Wish my tired old body could handle the jetty.
Originally Posted by Arthur Morris
. . . BTW, when there is three times as much room from the front of the duck to the frame edge than there is from the tail tip to the frame edge the bird is not at all centered.... If it were centered, those two distances would be the same
denise ippolito thanked for this post
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