Carolina wren

[darren]

Yet another bird from my window...

Yes....I need to change the branch!

OK, I'm sure you are all sick of my bird shots, but this time I have a question. Which one do you prefer:

The standard pose:

or the action shot:

Thanks,

- darren

 

[w7xman]

Yet another bird from my window...

Yes....I need to change the branch!

OK, I'm sure you are all sick of my bird shots, but this time I have a question. Which one do you prefer:

- darren

Clean background, great light and color, these again look pretty darn near perfect.

I did alot of reading on avian and wildlife photography the past few days, and your stuff seems to match. The one thing I don't see in these is that they say a catchlight in the eye makes the birds look alive, and is ideal when you can get it. That's all I see that can be improved in #1...

Here's a good read for you/all:
http://www.naturephotographers.net/wl0201-1.html

I like #1 because it looks standard and beyond perfect, but I think that serious birders would probably like the different look of #2.

 

[Mark Schaefer]

I don't tire of looking at good photos, so keep posting these birds. Both are excellent, and I agree the action shot has a little extra edge. The portrait is a great pose also.

The rule of thirds applies in all photos including action, it is just more difficult. Sometimes it is possible to anticipate action, and sometimes not. I suspect the bird just made a sudden and perhaps unexpected move, and it takes time to reposition the camera. Darren did the right thing and pressed the shutter before the picture was gone. It might work better if it more closely followed the thirds rule, and if the bird was looking into the frame rather than out. But it is a great moment that Darren might have missed had he recomposed the shot.

 

[BorealChickadee]

definitely # 2
I'm a big fan of "action" shots for birds. Standard shots are for field guides.
Action shots capture that "ah" moment your mind remembers.

I never tire of your bird shots. Keep them coming!

 

[forestgnome]

I like #2. Technicals look great to me in both. I also really like the branch you've been using. It's clean and minimalistic, and there's just something special about dead wood.

 

[Brambor]

I like the second one. It's a slightly different composition and that makes it more interesting than the traditional pose.

 

[kmorgan]

#2 for me too. You have a good eye.

Kevin

 

[darren]

Thank you for all the comments. Glad you like the shots. It is interesting to hear that people perfer the action shot over the standard pose. I was feeling that way too, but then the standard pose shot looks textbook and I like that.

Cantdog, Mark is right - that little bird moves darn fast and I had to move quickly to get this shot as is. Ideally I would have followed the rules and gotten the bird in the upper right so it had room to look into the photo. In my mind, that would have made this shot a real keeper. Oh well, better a photo than no photo at all.

Jim - thanks for the link. I will read up on it.

BC - I might have to pick up Arthur Morris' guide to bird photography. You might make me a bird photographer yet.

Thanks

- darren

 

[bubba]

The one thing I don't see in these is that they say a catchlight in the eye makes the birds look alive, and is ideal when you can get it.

Ahhh, I don't know anything, but I may I have an eye myself!! I mentioned this in an a much early bird comparison Darren had posted -- as I thought it was one of the things that I liked in one photo over the other.

Nice stuff.