Snowy Erget

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faugel@ipp.mpg.de), August 19, 1998

Answers

I am afraid you've submited a dead link. Please check it again, there might be something wrong. Yours, Gabor

-- G. Avasi (avasig@hotmail.com), August 19, 1998.



-- Helmut Faugel (faugel@ipp.mpg.de), August 19, 1998.

Moving the subject in the frame slightly to the right would remove the dead space on the right of the image; take the subject directly out of the middle of the frame; allow more of the diagonal shadow to become part of the image; and allow the subjects' gaze to look through the image. The combination of these changes could add some action to the image, which is lacking.

-- Joe Boyd (boydjw@traveller.com), August 19, 1998.

Beautiful bird...

Just a personal esthetic point, but I think a big part of what's missing is anything that relates to the critter's natural habitat. He looks more like someone waiting for a subway than wildlife in it's habitat. ;>

Of course since these guys like wet conditions (I think?) showing more of his dry surroundings could have illustrated a story on a drought...

Otherwise you could improve it by forgoing the frontal approach. You do want to see the face, but personally I feel a 3/4 view is more attractive if a portrait is your goal. Add what Joe said. :> The other thing that could have helped is more diffuse lighting.

Hope it helps,

Keith

http://www.spiritone.com/~kclark/animals.html

-- Keith Clark (ClarkPhotography@spiritone.com), August 19, 1998.


This is a nice shot. I like the focus of the background as it only goes from sharp to infinity. I like the fine details on the feathers. (what kind of film?) I think involving more of the surroundings would loose the simplicity of the background. I'd position the bird more on the right for a feeling of "having somewhere to watch". It would also emphasize a triangle of the bird and its shadow giving some dinamics to the pic. But it's only my personal idea.

-- G. Avasi (avasig@hotmail.com), August 20, 1998.


Thank you for your comments on how to improve the picture by placing the bird more to the right so that the bird has more space to view to the left. My personal fear in most cases is to squeeze the subject too close to the border.

Keith mentioned that he misses anything that relates to the critter's natural habitat. The picture was taken at it's natural habitat on the beach on Captiva Island, FL, but he is right the sand looks like concrete.

After G. Avasi is asking for the type of film, here are the technical detail about the picture: EOS 5 with Canon EF 2.8/200 + 2x TC on a tripod, the film was Kodak Elite II 100, f/8,0 and 1/500s. I've scaned a 30x45cm (12x18") enlargement, gamma corrected, reduced in size and a bit sharpened.

-- Helmut Faugel (faugel@ipp.mpg.de), August 21, 1998.


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