Foraging for breakfast


We have a flock of doves that visit our backyard (we do have bird feeders) each morning and evening. Relly enjoy just watching them and the other birds coming through. This photo was taken through a window so as not to disturb them.

What technical feedback would you like if any?

They are (as are all birds, animals, wildlife) constantly on the move. I’ve seen so many beautiful photos of animals on the site. Still struggling with how to capture them with as much clarity and detail as possible. Any comments, suggestions, techniques would be greatly appreciated and welcome.

What artistic feedback would you like if any?

All comments welcome. Thank you.

Pertinent technical details or techniques:

Nikon D7200, f/18, 250 iso, 1/40 sec., 500mm
(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)

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Linda, this is a very good looking Dove. The bit of blue around it’s eye leading to it’s beak shows nicely as does the color in the eye. I see especially in it’s feathers and in the background that you’ve got double pane windows. A fun image.

This is a good example of a busy composition. There are many elements that vie for attention with the bird (the white areas and the out of focus leaves).

Linda, we have doves in our yard occasionally too. They are pretty in their own way, with the iridescent colors in their feathers when the light hits them a certain way. I find that I need a much higher shutter speed than what you used here (maybe 1/1600) to capture their movements. To get that shutter speed, you could have lowered the f-stop to maybe f7.1 or something like that (which in turn will help blur the background so that it won’t be as distracting, which is a nice bonus), and that way your ISO wouldn’t get bumped up so high too. It is a bit of a challenge, shooting wildlife, but a rewarding one when you start seeing your shots improving. To me, I just have to play with the settings and find which one is getting the results I want, if the critter stays around long enough. Hope you get plenty of opportunities to practice, and looking forward to seeing your images posted.

Thanks @Shirley_Freeman . The next couple of days are supposed to be sunny so I’ll have an opportunity to give your suggestions a try. Sounds like this will help with some of the issue @Igor_Doncov mentioned.

Thanks @Igor_Doncov for taking the time to comment. I appreciate your thoughts.

A good capture of the Dove, Linda. Shirley gave you some excellent advice on shooting. As for composition, there’s quite a bit of room above the dove that doesn’t add much to the image, so it could be cropped from the top. It’s difficult with doves because of their log tails, but it’s usually nice to have more room in the direction the animal is looking/moving than behind them. It’s often looked at as giving them room to move into the frame. Keep on posting. This is a great place to learn.

Thanks Dennis. I was just reading an article about this very issue - leaving room in the frame - lots to learn. Thanks again for the kind encouragement.