Great Blue Heron with enviroment

IraRunyan

Many bird photographers try to isolate their photo subjects from most background, because they clame the background is "cluttered", "busy', or "distracting". You may have noticed that I like to include some (in many cases all) of the enviroment in which I found the bird for documentation purposes. I guess it's a matter of personal choice. Here is a Great Blue Heron in its enviroment.......

redleash

Ira-

I agree that sometimes it is nice to include the bird's environment. And I'd say this is the right time. These are lovely shots. However, I do think the comp in the first two doesn't work for me--the bird does get a bit lost in the reeds. But #3 is superb! The bird is the clear subject and he seems to "overpower" the reeds.

Lauren

Jack'll do

with Lauren with regard to these three images. Your #3 is a beautiful image and, IMHO, strikes a good compromise. I guess it depends on what the photographer is after in a given instance. In general I agree that placing the subject "in place/context" is usually desirable. Sometimes though the photographer may want to focus attention solely on the animal.