Spotted Towhee

[T.D.]

Caught this little guy this morning. I thought the shadows were kind of interesting.

What do you think?

[gatorohio]

Great shot. I agree the shadows make it a little more interesting.

[dancinec]

Spotted Towhees are difficult to capture, compared to the "California" or Brown Towhee. I think you did well to capture any view.

[WepWaWep]

I feel as is I'm looking into the bramble they love so much. Great capture.

[rathke]

That's a very nice capture. Neat bird that is hard to see, let alone shoot. It does depict it's environment.

[mikeivan]

Good color and exposure and you are getting some "feel good comments" but in fact, your image contradicts a couple of pretty well established rules: NO SHADOWS ON THE BIRD and NO REAR END SHOTS. Of course, rules are made to be broken, however, the shot does not work for me, sorry. See this site: www.birdsasart.com

[zenden]

Thanks for the link , I am fairly new to thisGood color and exposure and you are getting some "feel good comments" but in fact, your image contradicts a couple of pretty well established rules: NO SHADOWS ON THE BIRD and NO REAR END SHOTS. Of course, rules are made to be broken, however, the shot does not work for me, sorry. See this site: www.birdsasart.com (http://www.birdsasart.com)

[dancad]

To me shadows on birds are quite distracting. On the other hand the "rear-end" pose here is OK because you got a nice head turn with it...I understand rear-end shots are not always flattering but they do give another, although all-too-familiar, perspective!

[T.D.]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I appreciate it.

You know, MikeIvan, I tried explaining the rules to the Towhee, but he didn't want to listen, so I took the shot that was there. ;)

[dancinec]

Good color and exposure and you are getting some "feel good comments" but in fact, your image contradicts a couple of pretty well established rules: NO SHADOWS ON THE BIRD and NO REAR END SHOTS. Of course, rules are made to be broken, however, the shot does not work for me, sorry. See this site: www.birdsasart.com (http://www.birdsasart.com)We realize that critical comments are important as tools for learning. Perhaps these rules are for photographs that are going to be sold to national magazines. But your reference to this site left me cold. I looked over several areas, on the www.birdasart.com site and I saw nothing that would be helpful in determining good photograph technique. I saw its as sales tool for in house produced brochures and esoteric equipment.
Perhaps you could be more specific as to where these rules are.

[mikeivan]

We realize that critical comments are important as tools for learning. Perhaps these rules are for photographs that are going to be sold to national magazines. But your reference to this site left me cold. I looked over several areas, on the www.birdasart.com (http://www.birdasart.com) site and I saw nothing that would be helpful in determining good photograph technique. I saw its as sales tool for in house produced brochures and esoteric equipment.
Perhaps you could be more specific as to where these rules are.
Sorry for your reaction to my reference. I hope the OP doesn't feel the same. Arthur Morris is thought of by some to be a wonderful teacher of photographic techniques as well as a preeminent bird photographer. I find his Bulletins (free on his site) to be very helpful, through example and instruction. It is a commercial site, he makes his living selling photographs and books and conducting seminars. I did buy his book, I think the rules may be in there, although to be accurate, Art probably calls them techniques, not rules. I find them very useful but YMMV.

[superdiver]

very nice!

[T.D.]

Sorry for your reaction to my reference. I hope the OP doesn't feel the same.

I asked for feedback and I accept it -- whether I agree with it or not. In this situation, I think what we're seeing is an example of something we see a lot on this forum - the "conflict" (not the right word, but the only one I can come up with) between professionals and hobbyists.

As for me, I'm a hobbyist through and through. I know the above photo is not technically perfect and would never be considered for publication in any sort of quality publication. (and that isn't my goal) However, that being said, I'm THRILLED with it! As someone who has owned his dRebel XT since September, when I saw this shot on my monitor when I got home, I was really excited. LIke I said, I know it's not perfect. But I finally got a clear, well-exposed shot with reasonable composition of a not-so-easy subect.

Again, I'm not striving for National Geographic, but I'm thrilled nonetheless.

That's why I wasn't particularly bothered by Mikeivan's suggestions. He was trying to help me. He just didn't realize that this photo was a new high on my personal, quality photo scale!

[Paul A]

Thanks for posting, you don't see many of these on the forum, I see these guys but haven't been able to get a decent pic at all.

[dale65bama]

Nice job, Turnerzdad. It does indeed give one a feeling of accomplishment to get a picture like this. I, too, am a hobbyist, but I take it seriously. Usually when I read or hear about "rules" in photography, I immediately substitute "suggestions". Just keep on clickin'!.

Dale

[ZipDude66]

Shadows are some what distracting but the head turn and the color of the eye lead me to a pleasing photograph.

Zip

[T.D.]

Paul A, thanks for your comment.

dale65bama, thanks for understanding. I certainly plan to keep on!

Zipdude, thanks!

[cfcRebel]

What a great capture. I have not seen the bird before. Glad you post one.

[T.D.]

Thanks cfcRebel. This is my best capture with the new Bigma. Still learning and loving it!