Birds at Home ( Need Comparison )

[ranjeetgamer786]

Hi All,

These Fellow came at very evening and stayed for long till some cats and other birds have quarrels.

Its Beautiful what do you say. 

 

Link : King Fisher at Home

Link : Green Beater at Home

Thanks,

Ranjeet C

[kenfowkes]

They are indeed very beautiful birds, Ranjeet Gamer.  I welcome you to this forum, and invite you to read the rules, the first of which is "Post only one image per topic."  II am not 100% sure of the purpose behind it, but it makes sense to me that a forum dedicated to critiquing photos, rather than showcasing them, works better if the focus is on a single photograph.  Regardless of the reason, if you look around you'll see that this rule is followed.

But since you did post two, I think it is interesting to compare them.  Although both are lovely, I like the Green Beater the best because the blurred background makes the bird stand out.  In both photos, there are colors in the background (brown, green) that match the birds, and I like this.

Also, in both photos you have the bird subjects centered in the frame.  This is often not the best choice.  If you look at lots of similar solitary bird photos, I believe you will start to notice that the ones which really stand out have the bird subject off center, often with the bird looking toward the middle of the frame.  Also, in the King Fisher shot, the trunk divides the frame into two, and the left side keeps drawing my eye away from the bird.  I think part of the problem is the branch coming off the trunk and leading up to the left and out of the frame.  My attention tends to follow that.  I wonder of cropping off some of the left side would improve things.  Try it and see what you think.

Regards,
Ken F

[ranjeetgamer786]

First of all Thanks Ken F for a descriptive manner and guidance, I really want apologies for two pics post what I can say that I am new here and will follow the rules from now onward. But need a comparison between two pics so posted two instead one.

For Green Beater Thanks for comments, I really enjoyed your guidance most helpful in future and i will defiantly try out those.

In case of King Fisher you were right, that is the part where I also having some missing thoughts that you given right solution for I will try for sure.

Thanks,

Ranjeet C

[Lady GooGoo La La]

I agree with Ken, while the birds are beautiful, to make them stand out I think you need to crop again, the background adds nothing (but blurred is far better that clear distracting background). To me photos like this shine when you can see gorgeous feather detail. either you need longer lens or if possible a heavy crop, the longer lens may have the advantage of blurring the background more by virtue of a high focal length :  f-stop  ratio.

Lighting seems OK the background in the Kingfisher a bit over-exposed but bird not.

I suspect you were just happy to get any photo of such beautiful animal, but to impress photographically is different story.

Lady GooGoo LaLa

[ranjeetgamer786]

Yes, It was a nearly night (around 6-6:30 pm and dawn) photo with little extra expose, using 200 mm zoom Lens. I make some crop and attached Thumbnail. Thanks for the Comment and yes for sure its a beautiful bird after all.

[™Ken Kruse™]

Hi Ranjeet and welcome to the forum!

I think the advice you received already is good. about the only thing I can suggest is to burn in the bottom and left edges to anchor them. Basically this just means to darken those areas at the edges so that it guides the viewers attention back into the frame instead of being pulled out by the details leading out of it.

The idea of cropping is good, unfortunately I think you went a little too far. The crop at the bottom is fine, you moved the little guy to the lower 1/3rd of the frame which is good. He is now just a little too close to the left, I would suggest trying to move him to 1/3rd from the left also. That is one of the 4 "Sweet Spots" in an image that work very well as a guide to help compose photos. Please see link for examples https://www.google.com/search?q=rule+of+thirds&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=FcfYUqOjMoLLsASK6oHwBQ&ved=0CEcQsAQ&biw=1280&bih=898

http://www.paintdoodles.com/artstuff/composition/ctutor/cmpsitn5.htm

[ranjeetgamer786]

Thanks Ken Kruse, for guidance also. Those are very helpful, I tried and updated into attachment. Even in previous Attachment I tried to keep edges from green leaves but though the picture missing some thing I am not sure of and you confirms me those where the "Sweet Spots".

[Galatas ©]

Lots of good advice has already been posted. I especially agree with Kenfowkes about positioning the bird off centre.
Just as a matter of interest I should point out that the bird is a Green Bee Eater ( Merops orientalis ) not a "Beater"

[kenfowkes]

Great links, Ken!  I was greatly amused to see, partway down your google search, one of the famous close-ups from "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly".  It linked to a page (http://makeapowerfulpoint.wordpress.com/2013/07/25/use-the-rule-of-thirds-to-help-your-powerpoint/) with a slide show of scenes from movies that demonstrate the rule of thirds, the first three of which are face closeups from this movie, which I watched many times long before I knew anything about the rule of thirds.

One of the fun things to do as one learns about composition is to see and appreciate what professionals do, in movies, TV shows, and even advertisements.

[™Ken Kruse™]

On Friday, January 17, 2014 10:39:37 AM UTC-8, kenfowkes wrote:

Great links, Ken!  

Isn't that great Ken? When I did the Google search I was planning on just finding something explaining it so I wouldn't have to again. I had no idea Google gave it a whole classification of it's own! 

[Matthew Walters]

Hi Ken

The one image rule is indeed in part because this forum is to critique a photo, not publicise a gallery. In addition to this it is because we allowed larger images to enable critiquing, whereas thumbnails are preferred in the other forums - asking for one photo gives consideration to those users on slower connections. I think there are times when we can be flexible with the rules, just as we are flexible with the 'rules' of photography, particularly if we are asked to compare two different methods of processing the same image for example.

Hope that adds some clarity - and thanks to all who are keeping the cirque forum alive, both regular and new contributors.

[ranjeetgamer786]

Thanks Galatas for correcting me, I was confused with the name of bird. Actually at our side its called with a name that sounds like beater to me so I named it.