imo, this is good?? ginger

ginger_55

On these photos at Caw Caw Wildlife, I was mostly shooting over and through vegetation. The water was blue but the marsh grass and the birds were reflected in the water. If that is distracting, please let me know. Don't know what I will do about it, or can do about it, but I will know. Also, most of these, any, are full frame, except to the point of getting the bird out of the center. Shooting on al servo lends itself to centering, instead of focus and recompose, so some "editing" needs to be done afterwards, or the subject is centered, IMO. In the 20D, anyway.

ginger

This is the photo naked, I thought maybe the poster would help, but perhaps you would like to see it without the poster.

ScottMcLeod

I like it!

Maybe move the bird a wee bit to the right, but not much.

When you're putting it on a white matte, a very small uniform drop shadow the whole way around might add just that extra little bit of depth...

Just my $0.02.

ginger_55

Thank you, Scott!

The big white border is supposed to give it a poster look, not a thing with depth. It might be interesting to try a shadow or bevel all around though. Thanks for that tip.

If I move the bird, I have to do it by cropping more, then the bird becomes larger. But it is an idea, too.

Thanks for looking, commenting and leaving the tips.

ginger

julesnc

I would hate to see you crop it anymore, because you'd lose the reflection of the people in the foreground. At first I thought they made it to busy, but the more I looked at it the more I liked them sitting there because it gave an interesting twist to the picture. It looks better with the poster, because the white calms down the multitude of reflections in the water.

jules

ginger_55 wrote:

Thank you, Scott!

The big white border is supposed to give it a poster look, not a thing with depth. It might be interesting to try a shadow or bevel all around though. Thanks for that tip.

If I move the bird, I have to do it by cropping more, then the bird becomes larger. But it is an idea, too.

Thanks for looking, commenting and leaving the tips.

ginger

ginger_55

julesnc wrote:

I would hate to see you crop it anymore, because you'd lose the reflection of the people in the foreground. At first I thought they made it to busy, but the more I looked at it the more I liked them sitting there because it gave an interesting twist to the picture. It looks better with the poster, because the white calms down the multitude of reflections in the water.

jules

Thanks for the feedback on the poster. There are many ways to get the white there, and I will remember that in showing that photo, thanks muchly.

For the record, there are no people sitting in the foreground. It might be the reflection of the bird in the foreground. There were no people anywhere near me, not in my sight, anyway.

Thanks for commenting,

ginger

Sally

poster
I think this is a plain wonderful photo. And poster.
Have the Caw Caw folks seen it?

Sally

snapapple

I think it's wonderful just the way it is. I can see that it's grasses in the foreground. It gives the feeling of peeking into a private little pool to see the bird. Very nice mood. Not too busy for me.

Osprey Whisperer

Hey Ginger,

THe "poster" effect as you call it works fine. I'm not all that crazy about the text. Just always have liked pictures. Isn't that why we all buy magazines? . Any white border will help offset the image. Borders/frames are meant to do this. They are not meant to distract or cluter up the image. No need for gimmicky shadows, pinstripes, matching colors etc. etc. Keep it simple..and white. The thing that bugs me is that bird is centered. I know you don't want to crop..and I don't think that I would either..but when framing the original shot..I'd keep an eye out for this in the future. It's almost dead center..and this BIRDS me. There are exceptions to this rule of thumb..but here..I'm afraid it just looks like you lost track of this thought? Other than that..nice shot. The small bird..large area is nice. Next time ask the bird to step to one side or the other. Ask nicely and offer some fish.

Cheers

BMP

Michiel de Brieder

good one Ginger!!! I like the minimalistic appearance of the bird and the poster is a nice touch. I don't mind the centre position of the bird at all and the colours are very nice! I like the brown/green!

Well done!

Sally

I agree with Birdman about plain white, and not caring for borders and shadows and stuff...

But hey, I'm such a purist I don't even like to give photographs a name, just a date and place if anything, but hand-written, and small. Part of why this works so well as a poster is because of the typography, classically poster-like.

BTW I much prefer this type style to the script style you've used in the past, which has always struck me as anachronistic.

I too wish the bird were just a tad more over to the right, but what the heck! I think he's just slightly off-center, as it is -- a few more inches to the left, now that would have been centered. .

All in all, it works for me, bigtime.
Sally

ginger_55

Thanks, you all. The bird came out of the camera centered, I worked him up centered. Then I moved him a tad to the rt so he would not be centered.

Birdman, the reason I have been centering birds lately is I discovered al servo which in the 20D allows me to follow the bird, get birds in flight, it focuses as it moves. I have it on center point. So, it is always focusing on whatever is in the center.

I used to focus and recompose, I still do sometimes, but if I am expecting a bird to fly off, I put it on al servo, then I have to follow him with the center focusing point. I am aware of that, I focus in the camera, with my eye, so centering doesn't bother me, but I know it bothers others, so I move it. In this, and most, case (s), I didn't want to go too far as I like what is on the left with the water and grasses, so I go just far enough, I am always hoping. I know that if I can get his eye in the center, there will be more of him in back than in front, then the book says he is not centered, so that is what I often do. Other times, like I think here, I go the other way, but in this case I didn't have much wiggle room.

When I was cropping a lot, I was getting a lot of criticism that way, so I am just back to full frame, but not quite. It would be full frame if I were not using al sevo so much now.

Thanks all for stopping and commenting. Thanks for the comments on the border, too. It was nice clear weather, but hot that day. I will be back at that place, though, I like it. Those are old rice fields.

ginger:D