Great Grey Shrikes are not that common here, in winter sometimes we have a few in the dunes (in the eastern part of the country there’s much more of them). Typically very shy birds, but easy to find as they always perch in the top of the vegetation. Problem with this one is that it has claimed a fairly large territory sometimes taking me a hour to find it . Thanks for any comment, Hans
What technical feedback would you like if any?
It’s not exactly the rule of 3rds, but I wanted to keep all the branches in the frame. Is that bothersome ?
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
(If backgrounds have been removed, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
Nikon D500 with 500mm f4 | 1/2000s | f5 | ISO400 | monopod
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The composition is nice and the perch adds a lot of visual appeal to the scene. I wish that the shrike was bigger in the frame, but you get what nature gives you. Well done…Jim
Hans, If the Great Grey Shrike is anything like the Loggerhead Shrike that we have here, I know what you mean about being shy. The only way I get a decent, fairly close up shot of him is through our window when he lands in the tree nearby, and that is using a 600 mm lens. Out in the open, he will not let you get anywhere near him. I too wish this was a bit more frame filling of him to get a better look, but I do like the perch he is on, and I am not bothered by it not being in the thirds of the image. I think the shape of the tree he is on helps balance the image.
Your perseverance paid off nicely Hans. Our Northern Shrikes behave very much the same way. Solitary birds perched high on a bush and always on the look out.
I like the soft and muted bg colors as well as the perch. Nice that yo got both the shrike and perch in same focal plane.
I assume this must be full frame and you cannot move the bird a bit to the left. I wonder if a 16 x 10 vertical crop would allow the bird to be a bit more off center with out losing any perch. Perhaps it would be too tight.
Well done.
I really like this. The simplicity and the bird against the washed-out background work well. PersonalIy would crop a bit off the righthand side and top to move the bird off the center and up for balance and to emphasize the “sitting on the top of a tree” feeling.
Hans: I think this is wonderful as presented. It doesn’t’ need to be bigger in the frame to still convey the message and share the environment. Love the background as it is complimentary to the image.
I love this! The dynamic shape of the branch is great for moving the eye up and down the frame. The 3 dark/black spots at the top of the frame are tempting for me to remove and a subtle crop from the top wouldn’t create too much tension to my eye, but I’d be interested in your thoughts. I tend to lean more towards a 3:4 crop rather than a 2:3 crop in verticals, unless I really need the height to help tell the story, but that’s my taste - not yours. I’d take nothing off the sides myself and think this image is great as presented also. If I kept the 2:3 format, I’d color/dodge the dark spots with the surrounding clay/brown colors.
Thanks all for your kind comments, suggestions and thinking along. I will consider and experiment a little with your input ! Appreciated ! Cheers, Hans
This composition works for me, Hans. Ideally a head turn looking the other way would have been nice so you could move the branch to the right in the frame, but this still works very nicely.
. Thanks for any comment, Hans