Please share your immediate response to the image before reading the photographer’s intent (obscured text below) or other comments. The photographer seeks a genuinely unbiased first impression.
Questions to guide your feedback
any reactions are welcome !
Other Information
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Image Description
Oxpeckers like to forage for food (like ticks etc.) on the skin of various mammals. They often draw moisture from the blood of wounded animals or… why not… from the juice animals lose when chewing on a tasty leaf.
Tsavo West, Kenya
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
Vision and Purpose:
Conceptual:
Emotional Impact and Mood:
Composition:
Balance and Visual Weight:
Depth and Dimension:
Color:
Lighting:
Processing:
Technical:
The first reaction is: what’s happening here with the bird? How did it end up in this situation? Or is this an optical illusion?
I suppose that the bird was sitting in a part of the tree/plant that turned out to be giraffe food. And that the giraffe prefers to eat vegan.
The bird probably escaped in time.
@Han_Schutten - thanks so much for your reaction! It is nice for me to see how viewers interpret a photo before me telling them what was going on. I hope in the mean time my accompanying (blurred out) text enlightened you Thanks again, Ingrid.
The first time I saw this, it looked like the giraffe drooled on the bird. It looks like the bird is carrying a fine stem or silk strand for nest building. Comp and colors are very nice…Jim
I thought the same thing @Jim_Zablotny! The photo definitely makes you think about the scene and what’s going on. Love that. Would maybe like to see the giraffe’s colors and details pop a bit more. Otherwise, fine job!
I’m just going to assume that’s a string of drool attached to the oxpecker… which is awesome!
Light and color look okay to me, though I understand for the called to brighten up (but have no idea what sort of light you were working with… this doesn’t look “off” in any sense to me).
There is a bit too much empty blue space above the head for my tastes. Would be fine cropping so the proportions between the top and the sides are more equal.
Thanks again, Ingrid.