When I am out in the field birding I often can’t resist taking pictures of birds even when I know that the light is such that I am not going to get a very good image. Sometimes this means low light, sometimes this means that the birds are backlit, sometimes this means that the bird is obscured. I never know what to do with such images.
I think you can figure out where this post is headed. That is if the title didn’t tip you off from the get-go. Here are some allegedly “artsy” shots (and maybe some legitimately artsy shots) of some of the birds I have seen since arriving in southern California nearly a week ago. Enjoy!
Golden Eagles in low light (click to embiggen)
motion-blurred and out-of-focus Yellow-rumped “Audubon’s” Warbler
Pied-billed Grebe in low light (click to embiggen)
backlit Black-necked Stilts (click to embiggen)
Yellow-billed Magpie in low light against a cloudy sky
Common Yellowthroat and its reflection
What do you do with your pictures that are not quite ready for prime time?
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I love that third shot, the pied-billed grebe.
What do I do with my not-so-good photos? (Which includes about 99% of the total.) Sort of, half-way “fix” some, ditch the rest. Calling a few “artsy” might save some more. I’ll remember that.
That pied-billed grebe–I’d be thrilled beyond words with that shot
Like all of them, but the pied-billed grebe is beyond artsy–it is beautiful! Can I copy it to my homepage slide show, or is this allowed?
Corey, they are all so amazingly beautiful. I was particularly struck by the pied-bill grebe. Stunning!!! More, sir?
Love the grebe & stilt shots! Those are very nice.
I usually throw out my less-than-clear bird shots, but every once in a while, I save one because it’s funny, or silly, or pretty, despite not being the best depiction of the bird.
I think the grebe one is particularly successful, because although it isn’t the clearest shot of a grebe, it does show the bird in its habitat, and there’s certainly value in that. It’s nice to have some shots that aren’t just close-cropped portraits of the birds, so you can remember that birding day, where you were, what it was like, and so forth.
The magpie is my favorite because it looks almost like an X-ray! Very unusual angle and lighting!
Bird photographs that show a clear, well-lit, full-frame shot serve one purpose but photographs have other purposes as well. They can be about storing memories, about illustrating particular things beyond just the bird’s identity, or about art. What is good for one purpose may be bad for another purpose and vice-versa. Pictures that don’t serve any of the purposes decently tend to get tossed but I keep a lot of pictures that are “bad” by the standards of photographers who are mainly concerned with getting a full-frame bird shot. I take a lot of pictures that are intended to be “artsy” rather than just about the bird. I also take a lot that are intended to illustrate what I write in my on-line journal where I often want to illustrate the type of habitat or the atmosphere rather than show a portrait of a bird. Your Pied-billed Grebe is a great example of that type of picture.
Add my vote – that Pied Billed Grebe shot is INCREDIBLE!!!
I used to erase all the ‘iffy’ shots, but now I use many of them on my blog. Rump shots make great ID quizzes! Plus, I sometimes teach beginning photography classes, and the “bad” shots make for good lessons. We can analyze them and learn from my mistakes. Only problem with keeping more of the previously thrown away shots is, I need more hard drive space.
First, I agree that the Pied-billed Grebe shot is gorgeous. I usually take an overabundant number of photographs when birding. When I first began photographing birds, I kept nearly all of them. Then I realized that I would never use the bad ones and my hard drive was getting full rather quickly. Now I delete all out of focus shots as soon as I download them to the computer. I have a lot of butt shots like your Yellow-rump that can be interesting but I still think I keep too many of the “bad” photos that I take. I agree with Katrina that there are many more purposes for bird shots than “the perfect shot.” I sometimes photograph birds for ID purposes if I didn’t get a good enough look in the field to identify it. Mostly, I try to get photos of birds involved in some type of behavior rather than just posed, although I find video better for showing bird behavior which is the most interesting part of birding for me 😉
Yeah, the grebe photo rules.
Thanks all! And if you think that Pied-billed Grebe photo was good you should check out these.
@Lori: I am not sure I know what you are referring to when you ask to copy the photo to a “home page slide show” so no.
As you well know, I just post them anyway, also like everyone else I agree that the Pied-billed Grebe can in no way be described as bad.
@Carrie: We have to find a way to get you a decent camera… 🙂
I love that Pied-billed grebe shot too. Also quite fond of the stilts. 🙂