Show your Bird Portraits

Sporgon said:
Thanks 96Brigadier for your kind praise. When I took this picture I felt there was something there but it didn't hit the spot until I produced it in B&W.

Thanks for your constructive comments Guy, funnily enough I felt the composition could be improved, and I have attached the version that's on our website as a 2X1. All our pictures are either 1X2 or 1X2.5.
I would have kept the rock on the right side. If you go to your first picture and simply crop off the bottom so the bottom of the picture starts at the tip of the reflection of the rock on the right, you automatically get one thirds to the geese and one thirds to the top of the hills.

The shot is lovely.
 
Upvote 0
rpt said:
LSV said:
rpt said:
LSV said:
Yellow-crowned Night Heron visits the OC for the fine-dining locally.
Wow! Great timing! I bet that bite hurt the bird. Were you already on to the bird or did its scream alert you?
Just dumb luck that I caught the epic struggle from beginning to end, 3-4 minutes. That photo showed the turning point after the bird escaped from the crab's claws and
got enough leverage to chomp the crab into 2 pieces. Here's the Victor with the spoils.
Wow! That is something! You must have shot a pile of photos.
I also experimented with my 60D's video. The original HD footage is much clearer -- I had reduced resolution to upload to YouTube:
YCNH 3270
 
Upvote 0
rpt said:
Sporgon said:
Thanks 96Brigadier for your kind praise. When I took this picture I felt there was something there but it didn't hit the spot until I produced it in B&W.

Thanks for your constructive comments Guy, funnily enough I felt the composition could be improved, and I have attached the version that's on our website as a 2X1. All our pictures are either 1X2 or 1X2.5.
I would have kept the rock on the right side. If you go to your first picture and simply crop off the bottom so the bottom of the picture starts at the tip of the reflection of the rock on the right, you automatically get one thirds to the geese and one thirds to the top of the hills.

The shot is lovely.

I tried your suggestion for Sporgon and got this result. Is this what you had in mind? I like it. :)
 

Attachments

  • Canada Geese Derwent WaterSFC-crop.jpg
    Canada Geese Derwent WaterSFC-crop.jpg
    232.3 KB · Views: 942
Upvote 0
serendipidy said:
rpt said:
Sporgon said:
Thanks 96Brigadier for your kind praise. When I took this picture I felt there was something there but it didn't hit the spot until I produced it in B&W.

Thanks for your constructive comments Guy, funnily enough I felt the composition could be improved, and I have attached the version that's on our website as a 2X1. All our pictures are either 1X2 or 1X2.5.
I would have kept the rock on the right side. If you go to your first picture and simply crop off the bottom so the bottom of the picture starts at the tip of the reflection of the rock on the right, you automatically get one thirds to the geese and one thirds to the top of the hills.

The shot is lovely.

I tried your suggestion for Sporgon and got this result. Is this what you had in mind? I like it. :)
Um - no. I meant for you only to cut off the bottom. You have cropped from all sides. What I meant was:

 
Upvote 0
:) rpt - you and I have the same eye for composition ! Your crop is how we originally produced the pic. However the rock in the foreground is oof, and my partner in Building Panoramics has a real dislike for oof foregrounds ( bearing in mind our commercial pictures are buildings ), so we settled on taking it out.

When I took this picture I was using the standard screen in the 5D with an 85mm and I didn't intend the closest rock to be oof. Since then I have the manual focus screen and it is much better for both manual focus and judging subtle depth of field. Personally I think subtle oof foreground can add depth, but maybe in this case it looks like a mistake.

For those who like more symmetrical compositions I can accommodate ! ;D

Thanks for the feedback from everyone, I joined CR because it's a forum where the members are polite and courteous, and judging by many of the pictures posted - very talented ! So I appreciate the comments.
 

Attachments

  • Geese 2.jpg
    Geese 2.jpg
    164.4 KB · Views: 966
Upvote 0
Sporgon said:
:) rpt - you and I have the same eye for composition ! Your crop is how we originally produced the pic. However the rock in the foreground is oof, and my partner in Building Panoramics has a real dislike for oof foregrounds ( bearing in mind our commercial pictures are buildings ), so we settled on taking it out.

When I took this picture I was using the standard screen in the 5D with an 85mm and I didn't intend the closest rock to be oof. Since then I have the manual focus screen and it is much better for both manual focus and judging subtle depth of field. Personally I think subtle oof foreground can add depth, but maybe in this case it looks like a mistake.
:) well happy to note you like it too. I like this last picture a lot. But then I love B&W...

Thanks for the feedback from everyone, I joined CR because it's a forum where the members are polite and courteous, and judging by many of the pictures posted - very talented ! So I appreciate the comments.
You obviously missed some of the particularly rowdy threads :).

I have learned a lot here. And yes, in general it is a nice place to be.
 
Upvote 0
Canon7D with f/2.8 300mm II + 2xTC, iso 400, 1/320 - 1/500 f/5.6

These are at the limits of resolution as the kingfisher was quite far away. I was hand holding the light combo with the 300mm + 2xTC. The kingfisher hovered with head dead still, dived and came up with his catch.
 

Attachments

  • 8064_Hover2Crop.jpg
    8064_Hover2Crop.jpg
    244 KB · Views: 1,209
  • ThrowFish_8132_Best.jpg
    ThrowFish_8132_Best.jpg
    51.8 KB · Views: 1,188
  • FishEyed_8139_Crop.jpg
    FishEyed_8139_Crop.jpg
    71.6 KB · Views: 1,205
Upvote 0
I really enjoy the first image! Nicely done! :)

AlanF said:
Canon7D with f/2.8 300mm II + 2xTC, iso 400, 1/320 - 1/500 f/5.6

These are at the limits of resolution as the kingfisher was quite far away. I was hand holding the light combo with the 300mm + 2xTC. The kingfisher hovered with head dead still, dived and came up with his catch.
 
Upvote 0
AlanF said:
Canon7D with f/2.8 300mm II + 2xTC, iso 400, 1/320 - 1/500 f/5.6

These are at the limits of resolution as the kingfisher was quite far away. I was hand holding the light combo with the 300mm + 2xTC. The kingfisher hovered with head dead still, dived and came up with his catch.
One word. Fantastic!
 
Upvote 0