I photographed this Canyon Towhee near my house. This one found a nice perch on a beautiful granite boulder that really complimented it's feather colors.
Canon 30D, 500mm + 1.4x, f/5.6, 1/800, ISO 400, no flash, monopod
I struggle with the issue of cropping. I like to leave room for the bird (in this case on the left). If I leave too much room, it makes the bird look small in the frame. Never an easy balance for me. I'm curious how others on BPN feel about this?
I'm with you on that struggle Doug. For web posting in particular one wants to show off as much of the detail as possible in the 800 pixels we're allowed. For composition's sake I think the bird is too centered in this shot and space on the left would be a good thing.
I always crop too close also Doug. I believe in bringing the bird as close as possible but I get critiqued for that all the time. Just my natutal nature I guess. Beautiful image in my book.
I like the setting, the even light and the background, Doug. I would probably add a little room on the left in this instance. There seems to be no shortage of opinions on cropping on this forum. :) The bird is facing slightly away from you - a head turn your way would have improved the image. You might try some selective sharpening around the head.
I also think more room would be better...not alot more though. A better head turn would have been good, and as posted the image could use another round of USM. Agreed that the chosen perch is nice - and the BG too!! :-)
Very good detail and nice background - wish the head was turned slightly more towards you. Am struggling with the crop too - feels to centered for me - but when I added canvas on the left, it didn't improve the feel - had to add a lot left and top - but that made the bird too small in the frame. Somehow the flipped version works better for me - what do others think? Added some sharpening to the head too.
I do like the ORIG crop best; just what I would have done. But, head angle, head angle, head angle... I pretty much do not push the shutter button without it... Folks need to learn to look for it; it seems that folks are just pressing the button without giving head angle much thought; it is my prime consideration once I have the framing...
Last edited by Arthur Morris; 04-16-2008 at 07:39 PM.
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,
Canyon Towhee
Reply With Quote
