Bird Book Question

I'm putting together a bird photography book. This will be a coffee table type book instead of a reference type. About 150 images on 120 or so pages with almost all of the images on the right hand page and very little descriptive text on the left hand pages. I intended to organize the images by species but, after laying out a few pages, I am finding it visually repetitive to see the same species - and often similar colors - in several images. I wonder if such a book would be better organized by which photographs seem to flow together well regardless of species. I would very much like your opinions. Would you find such visually oriented organization effective or confusing? Thanks.

rgs wrote in post #19050915
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I'm putting together a bird photography book. This will be a coffee table type book instead of a reference type. About 150 images on 120 or so pages with almost all of the images on the right hand page and very little descriptive text on the left hand pages. I intended to organize the images by species but, after laying out a few pages, I am finding it visually repetitive to see the same species - and often similar colors - in several images. I wonder if such a book would be better organized by which photographs seem to flow together well regardless of species. I would very much like your opinions. Would you find such visually oriented organization effective or confusing? Thanks.
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I think it would be confusing to mix the species together. . Much better, in my opinion, to go with your original idea and do a two page spread for each separate species.

But - your "problem" is so cool because it could have a real positive impact on your photography.

One of the biggest challenges to an artist, in this case a photographer, is to present the same subject matter, over and over, but in refreshingly different ways. . To create images of the same thing, but that have a different look and feel. . Or that show a lot of very different aspects of each species' life.

A good friend of mine makes books somewhat similar to the book you are working on. . His latest was the Game Birds of North America:

https://www.amazon.com …asant-cover/dp/1591521831

Each chapter covered one species, so he kept the species sepearate and never mixed anything up. . He had a good mix of text and photos for each species. . He worked hard to try to get as many varied images of each species as possible. . What helps to keep the images from looking stale and repetitive is if they are different from one another in terms of light, color cast, behaviour, size, mood & feel. . That is the challenge that will cause you to expand your artistic vision and to become a better photographer.

For instance, if you were doing a spread on Canvasback Ducks, you may want to use a set of images such as these four which each have a very different look and feel from one another:

Are you able to creatively make this book more than just a coffee table book as you mention?
By that I'm thinking any bird book with beautiful photos (and they will be - I've seen yours) will find its way into reference libraries also.
I like what Tom has detailed as the birds are shown in varying situations, poses, even seasons and that would be both really visually appealing and a book you could pick up and browse as well as look for further identifying aspects on a bird of known or presumed known type.

I'm not suggesting you change the concept of the book or how you market it, but with careful thought you could reach a greater audience and a wider appeal.

That is assuming you want that. I'm not sure what you intentions are. Some publish books like this on a strictly limited run.

Anyway it sounds good. All the best with it.

Most interesting topic, as I've had it in my mind for the past 3 years to make a bird book, but the problem I have isn't content or layout, it's: I might take a better shot tomorrow, and will regret not including it in my book. Thus, I'm currently procrastinating on my 2018 book

That being said, I too like the idea of 1 species per page spread too. How are you determining what species and/or images to include? Are you just adding in whatever good photos you have taken over the course of your career, or are you narrowing it down to a specific time period or location?

Finally, what book company are you going with?

I love the Richard Crossley books. He creates montages of birds on a common habitat.

Here is an example.

https://i1.wp.com …e.jpg?fit=900%2​C595&ssl=1

MatthewK wrote in post #19051107
Most interesting topic, as I've had it in my mind for the past 3 years to make a bird book, but the problem I have isn't content or layout, it's: I might take a better shot tomorrow, and will regret not including it in my book. Thus, I'm currently procrastinating on my 2018 book

That being said, I too like the idea of 1 species per page spread too. How are you determining what species and/or images to include? Are you just adding in whatever good photos you have taken over the course of your career, or are you narrowing it down to a specific time period or location?

Finally, what book company are you going with?

I have a good number of aquatic and shorebirds, a pretty good variety of raptors, lots of songbirds, and some very colorful zoo residents that I will probably end with. That's why I started out with various types of birds in chapters. But my first chapter was Egrets and after looking at 4 images that were all Great Egrets and all white against mostly blue sky, it seemed that I need more visual variety and the most obvious way to do that is to group images by visual relationships rather than by species. Although I find the birds fascinating, my interest is first in photographing them so the point is to publish my best bird photographs in a photographically attractive manner. Now I am thinking of starting with the raptors - a more varied type with more variety than egrets. Additionally I may combine herons and egrets to get more variety.

Most of these were made in Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico, and the Texas Gulf Coast. Location is not a major consideration.

I'm going with BookBaby. I hope to have pre-orders for about half of the first press run - these will include a signed print as well as the book - with POD after the first run is sold.

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It seems like the photos you are considering for use are ones you have already accumulated.

The people I know who have done books take a few years to shoot specifically for the book that they are working on.

For instance, my friend Gary, whose book I linked to in post #2, has shot game birds for decades, and amassed hundreds of thousands of images over that time. . But when he decided to publish a book on North American game birds, he took 3 years to photograph game birds intensively, so that he could take images specifically for the book. . Just using his old stock was not sufficient, for reasons that you are discovering as you work on formatting your book.

Do you think it would be prudent for you to take a couple of years to get many more photos of the species you want to include, so that you can have the diversity of imagery that one would typically want for a book such as yours?


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Tom Reichner wrote in post #19051210
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It seems like the photos you are considering for use are ones you have already accumulated.

The people I know who have done books take a few years to shoot specifically for the book that they are working on.

For instance, my friend Gary, whose book I linked to in post #2, has shot game birds for decades, and amassed hundreds of thousands of images over that time. . But when he decided to publish a book on North American game birds, he took 3 years to photograph game birds intensively, so that he could take images specifically for the book. . Just using his old stock was not sufficient, for reasons that you are discovering as you work on formatting your book.

Do you think it would be prudent for you to take a couple of years to get many more photos of the species you want to include, so that you can have the diversity of imagery that one would typically want for a book such as yours?


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You may well be right. Thankfully the only investment so far is my time and, as I work through the process of preparing the layout, I may well find out more work is needed. I appreciate your comment very much. This is a challenging process.

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I just noticed you live in Oklahoma ..... lucky you!

You are one of the last states to have populations of the very rare Lesser Prairie Chicken. . Have you ever photographed them?

My friend and I have been trying to plan a trip to your state to photograph the Lessers, but it's been hard finding a place to do so. . My buddy shot them there several years ago, but there was a wildfire where the lek is; the vegetation on the lek burned, and the Prairie Chickens have never returned. . This is a shame, because it was a place on private land that you could pay a nominal fee for access to, and photograph the birds any way you wanted; no restrictions at all. . This is far preferable to these things that are all set up for you and you pay to join a group to go shoot the birds on a lek. . Those places never have the blinds positioned properly, and you are always forced to shoot from a position that is too high, and cannot shoot from ground level, as one would prefer for game bird images.

We were just saying the other day how it would be so much easier to find a good situation with the Lesser Prairie Chickens if one of us lived in Oklahoma. . Trying to figure these things out from 1,600 miles away is quite difficult.

Have you photographed at the Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge, just a bit southwest of you? I hear it's fabulous for Painted Buntings and Scissor-tailed Flycatchers in May. . When I was there last July I enjoyed shooting the Collared Lizards and the Elk with velvet antlers. . I wish I had a place like that just two hours from me - you are so fortunate to live where you do!

Sorry for going off-topic, but when I notices "Oklahoma City" in your sig, I just couldn't help myself, because I've been thinking about traveling to Oklahoma so much recently.


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No problem at all, Tom. I am always delighted to talk about the Wichitas and Oklahoma in general. I have been to the Wichitas many times. I used to visit there with my Baby Crown Graphic while learning the zone system many years ago. I camped there as a boy scout even more years ago and it is still one of my favorite destinations. By the way, I refuse to use the name "Collared Lizard". It's such a dull name for such a colorful fellow. I prefer the Oklahoma colloquial name "Mountain Boomer".

A Painted Bunting photograph I made last year was recently published in Oklahoma Today magazine. Lot's of wildlife in that refuge and I know some people who live in the area and know it extremely well.

As to the Lesser Prairie Chicken, I'm aware of it and it's endangered status but I know nothing else about it. You have gotten me interested. I'll see what I can find out.

Any time your coming this way and need some help, let me know.

rgs wrote in post #19053949
As to the Lesser Prairie Chicken, I'm aware of it and it's endangered status but I know nothing else about it. You have gotten me interested. I'll see what I can find out.

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Perhaps this will bring my off-topic musings back around to the topic at hand; which is your book. . Noppadol Paothong recently created a book on North American lekking game birds called, "Save the Last Dance" . . It is a coffee table style book, in some ways similar to what you want your book to be like.

https://www.amazon.com …17480-Dance/dp/0615617484

The Lesser Prairie Chicken is prominently featured in the book, with a chapter of 20 pages dedicated to the species!

What you have there in Oklahoma is a real treasure, and it'd be awesome if you are able to find a way to spend time pursuing this species before it is so rare that it cannot be photographed by the layperson any more. . The Gunnison Sage Grouse and the Atwater's Prairie Chicken have already reached this point, and we should learn a lesson from that and make the most of the opportunities we have left with the rapidly disappearing species.

I had scheduled to photograph the Lesser Prairie Chickens in Oklahoma last year, at a place where both Noppadol and my friends had photographed them several years ago. . When I contacted the landowner, to make final arrangements, that is when she informed me that they had not returned that spring, presumably due to the wildfire where the lek was the previous summer. . Makes me wish so much that I had pursued this opportunity sooner, like in 2016 or 2017. . With wildlife, when I put things off, they have a way of disappearing on me for good. . Lesson learned.

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In response to your comments about wildfire, I should mention that the Wichitas had a devastating fire about 10 years ago. The place looked terrible for a couple of years and then it began to bloom. That fire has been great for the refuge. Maybe the same will happen in your case. Give it a bit more time.

I just looked into the Lesser Prairie Chicken. That is a very sparsely populated part of the state but it's very interesting in an Old West / prairie kind of way. I don't go there often because it's a long drive. I have family in Colorado so once I head that way I usually don't stop. I did notice on Audubon that the range was increasing in Kansas. I'm going to watch for opportunities. Thanks for the heads up.

Perhaps you can consider organizing it by order? Pelecaniformes, for example, would give you a lot more variety than just egrets.

Scrumhalf wrote in post #19053969
Perhaps you can consider organizing it by order? Pelecaniformes, for example, would give you a lot more variety than just egrets.

Thanks. Good idea. Right now it is sorted a bit more broadly than rigidly by species.