I didn’t get to leisurely frame this shot of a male red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus). This was a safety shot, ‘shot from the hip’ so to speak, in case the bird flew off before I could position myself to compose the image in a way I might prefer, which he did, and unfortunately I didn’t include the tip of his tail. In spite of that I liked the image enough to keep and process it anyway. I considered cropping it to make the omission less obvious, but the trade-off was the loss of sense of depth which I felt weakened the image even further.
IMHO the composition is fine. The V-shaped stems going out of the frame at his head sort of counter balance his tail extending on the right. I agree it was good not to crop anything off of the left. This way he has plenty of space in which to be looking. Sometimes those safety shots turn out pretty nice!
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Thank you, Veda. 🙂 Yes, the stems helped, certainly.
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I can appreciate getting what you can, with action and animals the best time to shoot is when you see it. Often wildlife will spook. I have seen a few but never was able to get a shot of one. I like the shot, I think sometimes we are our own worst critics. Love the detail, nice capture!!
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Thank you so much, Jim. Yes, I agree about worst critics…I’m certainly guilty of that, lol!
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Well, I like the way it’s done. The shot has other color factors that make up for the missing piece of tail. That happens to me a lot too. Be happy you did.
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Thank you so much, Alix. I think also the way the leaves are draped around the blackbird helps distract from the missing tail. Yes, I’m happy enough with it. 🙂
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Great shot! I never thought of shooting from the hip. I’ll have to try that. I can’t believe how in focus and close it is.
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LOL! Thanks, Nicol. Shooting from the hip is just an expression. 🙂 Actually I meant that I pressed the shutter and focus button as soon as I had the bird in the viewfinder without waiting to ensure the bird was centered and the exposure correct. The bird was very close, he landed to check me out, I think. I was surprised he was so well focused…but since I moved focus control to a back button my focusing success has improved dramatically.
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Still a stunning image!
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Thanks, Eliza. Happy you like it!
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Love the colors, the crispness…heck love all of it!
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Thanks, Nato..I appreciate the comments. 🙂
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I think it ‘s a great shot!! I love these clever, bold birds!!
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Thank you, Cybele. I guess I just love birds, period. Well, I just love animals, let’s be honest. But when I’m out with my camera I particularly like the ones who will approach me, or who will let me approach them… 🙂
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He’s a beauty 🙂
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Yes he is. I always love their red and yellow epaulettes, but in this pic the foliage outshone his color splash.
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I could still see a hint of it!
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The Black bird seems to be lucky to have found a photographer like you… you gave him colours! A nice shot!
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