Those bird pictures someone posted

[Papa Bear]

Probably most of you noticed the Bald Eagle Thread posted by Sablatt.

In it he posted a link to some pictures;

This is not totally on topic, but I know there are a lot of birders here...my wife got this link from a friend of a friend - these shots were taken on 2/24/06 in Newburyport, MA - I am guessing at the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge - really amazing stuff:

PICS

I checked them out and was very impressed. I also browsed around the site they were on and enjoyed many of the other bird pictures. I liked the Snowy Owl the best.

But my purpose of bringing it up here is that
1) Many, if not most of the subjects were centered in the frame
2) Often times part of the subjects (wing tips, trailing edge of tail etc.) were out of focus.

Yet in my humble opinion, it was the portrayal of the birds, full of life and energy that made these shots exemplary.

It goes back to Darren's two shots of the wren, where everyone (but me) liked the static shot and most said so because parts of the action shot (which I preferred) was slightly out of focus.

So my question to the crowd is when does the subjective interest of the shot overrule the rules, or allow ignoring slight technical imperfections?

And BTW, did you like these bird shots?

 

[Brambor]

Those shots are great, especially the first and last one.

I've got one but it is fake ;-)

 

[Papa Bear]

I just wanted to make a (slight) rejoinder to my own question. I said I liked the Snowy Owl. The one I liked best is this: Snowy Owl.

Sure enough, this is the one Snowy Owl shot that puts the head 1/3 1/3 towards the top left and has the Owl looking towards the center of the frame. Follows the rules to a "T".

But still, you gotta love those fighting Eagles.