A couple of oldies from the April visit to Dauphin Island.
The last 2 are from this morning. My normal spot is inaccessible due to water . Only found a couple of stilts . The damsels are still plentiful and from the looks of it will be for some time to come. The 500mm did macro again
As always, nits, crits, suggestions and comments are most appreciated.
The first two conjure nice memories of your visit to the island... love the Reddish, but the Willet is very nice too.
Beautiful BG for the Stilt flyby... excellent capture Birdie.
Very nice job on the Damsel gymnastics... inverted reflections in the drops are very cool.
Lovely set Birdie.
Everything from your Dauphin Island shooting was some of your very best imagery and presentation So #1 and #2 are natural standouts for me.
#3, seems to be a bit lacking of wing coloring and or richness in overall color. Yes I am being picky.......and pushy
#4 Unique but may be just a bit too much pulling my interest. You did well on the water drops, the angle on the damsels I am a bit unsure of. The level of detail you normally have is not present on the damsels but i believe there was a compromise of focus and comp here........not in a bad way
I love the Reddish is sweet but the coloring and simplicity and overall feel of #2 is the winner in my eyes Birdie.
I think this is a very nice set overall! I have a few nitpicks about each image that I'll share. I think they're more personal preference than hard fast rules. After all, it's YOUR art!
Reddish Egret: The pose is very nice. The PP is great. If you have any more room for cropping, I'd suggest giving the bird a little more room to the left of the image and perhaps a little more to the right. I think a 3:2 crop ratio might work better.
Willet: Perhaps a tad higher crop would be my preference on this one. The pose is nice with good eye contact from the bird.
Black-necked Stilt: I'd prefer the bird to be higher up in the frame with a little more room behind him. I tend to think of bird photos, especially when they're moving, as images that can give you somewhat of a sense of where they've come from and also where they're going. I prefer more negative space in the direction the bird is going (which you've done nicely here) than behind the bird.
The colors seem a tad bit muted on this photo.
Damselflies: What a cool shot! Is she holding on to his neck with her tail!?!?
As I said, these are my personal nitpicks and ones that are really choices the photographer gets to make. I've really enjoyed seeing your posts!
The first two conjure nice memories of your visit to the island... love the Reddish, but the Willet is very nice too.
Beautiful BG for the Stilt flyby... excellent capture Birdie.
Very nice job on the Damsel gymnastics... inverted reflections in the drops are very cool.
Lovely set Birdie.
Kirk
Thank you Kirk. I do love the wildlife at Dauphin Island
Willet is my fave. Damsel shot is next. Lovely set Birdie.
Thank you Ken , much appreciated.
Everything from your Dauphin Island shooting was some of your very best imagery and presentation So #1 and #2 are natural standouts for me.
#3, seems to be a bit lacking of wing coloring and or richness in overall color. Yes I am being picky.......and pushy
#4 Unique but may be just a bit too much pulling my interest. You did well on the water drops, the angle on the damsels I am a bit unsure of. The level of detail you normally have is not present on the damsels but i believe there was a compromise of focus and comp here........not in a bad way
I love the Reddish is sweet but the coloring and simplicity and overall feel of #2 is the winner in my eyes Birdie.
Really nice work and good creativity...
Karl
Thank you so much Karl for the input. You know I appreciate it. Something about Dauphin Island relaxes me so much that I really love going out and finding subjects. On Dauphin Island, I don't have to watch for snakes, alligators and weirdos
I reworked the stilt , added some contrast and vibrance to the wings . Again, thank you !
All very nice, Birdie, both technically and artistically. I also enjoy reading (and learn from) substantive comments; in this case, I went back to look at the before/after of the stilt, and I think Karl was, not surprisingly, on point. The "after" features a richer and more nuanced look to the stilt wing shadows.
