not sure this counts as wildlife but

[wings of a bluebird]

it sort of didn't fit into landscape/cityscape either.



Hoping for some CC on this
I have sharpened for web and resized, otherwise this is SOOC.

Is the composition is looking okay and do you think this would benefit from PP (I wasn't sure what to do with it!)? Also, do you think much would have been achieved by lowering the ISO to 100?

EXIF data is as follows:

Model: Canon EOS 550D
Shutter Speed: 1/500 sec
Exposure Program : Manual
F-Stop: f/7.1
ISO Speed Rating: 200
Focal length : 160mm


Appreciate your critiques.

[kingpatzer]

Honestly, this doesn't do much for me. It's a snapshot of a tree. Nothing grabs my attention. I get that it's about the nest, but only because you're commenting that it can be thought of as wildlife. But without that context, it's just a tree.

Maybe going to a longer focal length and cropping in on the nest might give a better result? Or a smaller aperture to get the focus down to the nest? Post processing to blur everything but the nest? I'm not sure what but it needs something to show the viewer what it is you are trying to say to them. Right now it says "average tree, nothing special here."

This sort of image is also hard because of the way lines work in images. The viewer expects lines to lead someplace. Here, the main line (the tree trunk) enters the image from the lower corner and leads up and branches into three distinct paths, two of which lead nowhere -- but they do so pretty much in the center of the image. This makes the eye float around in nothing raising the question yet again "What am I looking at?"

[karen_s]

I kinda like all the lines and do very much like the colors. I do tend to agree with the above poster though on the point of the image, it might be lacking just a bit. For me, the nest is not prominent enough to notice it. I saw the lines first, color second, then a few more points down the road, the nest. If the subject is the nest, it falls short. If your subject is the color and the lines, then it works ok for me.

[wings of a bluebird]

Originally Posted by kingpatzer

Honestly, this doesn't do much for me. It's a snapshot of a tree. Nothing grabs my attention. I get that it's about the nest, but only because you're commenting that it can be thought of as wildlife. But without that context, it's just a tree.

Maybe going to a longer focal length and cropping in on the nest might give a better result? Or a smaller aperture to get the focus down to the nest? Post processing to blur everything but the nest? I'm not sure what but it needs something to show the viewer what it is you are trying to say to them. Right now it says "average tree, nothing special here."

This sort of image is also hard because of the way lines work in images. The viewer expects lines to lead someplace. Here, the main line (the tree trunk) enters the image from the lower corner and leads up and branches into three distinct paths, two of which lead nowhere -- but they do so pretty much in the center of the image. This makes the eye float around in nothing raising the question yet again "What am I looking at?"

Thanks for the critique. I guess this really proves how some images work for some and not for others. I will have a shot at some cropping, pp etc later (I don't have the time today).

It's interesting that you're expecting the lines to lead somewhere and that they don't (branches). I'll keep that in mind next time.

Originally Posted by karen_s

I kinda like all the lines and do very much like the colors. I do tend to agree with the above poster though on the point of the image, it might be lacking just a bit. For me, the nest is not prominent enough to notice it. I saw the lines first, color second, then a few more points down the road, the nest. If the subject is the nest, it falls short. If your subject is the color and the lines, then it works ok for me.

Thanks Karen. I also like the lines and the colours - I found when I started playing with it in PS that it either looked too saturated, or not saturated enough, and not realistic. Though that's not really the subject of the photo, I am just happy with how they turned out.

The point of the shot was that things aren't always what they seem.
The nests are so well camoflauged that often they go unnoticed because they are so well hidden.

[wings of a bluebird]

Ok so I tried to do a really tight crop and it's actually cool because you can see the detail of the nest (like the blue string) but I still found it hard to get the lines to lead you there ...

Does this one seem better?