Critique Style Requested: Standard
The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
The House Finches have fledged but are still begging.
All comments welcome!
Just LR here – minimal tonal corrections and a small crop.
Diane,
Holy Cow! These are incredible! Each outstanding on it’s own too. To top these off, how in the heck did you manage such a closeness in color and tonality of the background with the birds?? I know you mention minimal work in LR - and I don’t doubt you… just amazed at how these came out. What’s the bg if I may ask?
I can’t decide if the first or second is my favorite. Really makes me want to break down and get me a long lens and start setting up the backyard!
Congrats, love these!
Diane,
A nice heartwarming series of photos displaying the innate mercy parents have for their young. Even if the young can take care of themselves, the parents still tend to them. All four are amazing.
Thanks, @Lon_Overacker and @Youssef_Ismail! The BG was nature’s gift – the grass on a hill behind the birds. All winter we had above normal rain and the native grass was lovely green. Then last week, right on schedule, it all turned brown – or a nice golden tan in the right light. It won’t rain again until November and It will stay that way until maybe January when the new green growth will start to show.
What a nice series Diane! Love the interaction between adult and youngster. Each pose is terrific and the background is quite complimentary.
A super series, Diane. I particularly like the last shot where we can see the food passing from beak to beak. The male’s color also makes for a fine splash of contrast. All 4 shots beautifully balanced in the frame too. Winners all!
Diane, what an endearing series, I love the background and especially the final photo. I envy your background, I’ve been dealing with birds in our honeysuckle which is a mired mess and my bokeh is a work in progress.
Alice
Thanks, @Allen_Sparks , @Mike_Friel and @alice ! I got a similar series a couple of weeks ago but in a more cluttered area of branches. I’ll post it eventually. Honeysuckle is so gorgeous (and fragrant, if it is the southern type) but I can see it would make for a difficult BG.
A feathered drawing room comedy in four wings. The casting is impeccable: a mother at the absolute end of her patience, and her teenager who from his lower branch has clearly decided today is the day he wins. Her open beak shouts “clean your room right now”. His open beak fires back “in your dreams”. A universal family scene, simply downsized and feathered.
The composition is sneakily brilliant. The branch acts as a tension cable between the two protagonists, and the eye ping pongs between the open beaks like a spectator at a psychological tennis match. The youngster’s tail and the mother’s body close a visual loop that traps the gaze inside the frame. No escape, no parasitic extras, no superfluous anything. Only the conflict survived the photographer’s editing.
Some will mutter that the framing is a touch tight. I will reply that one does not photograph a quarrel in wide shot. Sergio Leone understood this for his duels, and you did the same for this timeless quarrel between tomorrow and yesterday. The tight crop compresses the air between the two beaks and seats us front row in the family living room. Polite distance would have killed the joke.
The cream tonality deserves a standing ovation. Aged butter, faded pastel, the exact palette of an Audubon plate or a nineteenth century natural history manual leafed through at grandma’s house. The warm light flatters the plumage without caramelizing it. The shadows remain civilized. The highlights have the decency not to shout, which makes the squawking inside the beaks twice as funny.
Hi Diane
You captured an incredible sequence here. The interaction is great, and the color palette works as a plus.
Peter
Hi Diane,
The are fantastic. Everything about them seems so perfectly designed: the background, the poses. The amazing thing, really, is that it is all natural. And it still feels natural! The palette contributes to this, and it gives the whole thing a kind of idyllic feel, even with the iconic “feed me” dynamic. I rarely comment on bird photographs because I lack experience and skill in the subject, but this is off the charts and demands a round of applause!
ML
A beautiful series, Diane. Everything has been said above, but the way these four images work together is wonderful.
Thanks, @sebastien-maloron , @Peter_Morrissey , @Marylynne_Diggs and @Dennis_Plank ! This set of images was a gift from nature – I really only denoised (hardly needed), tweaked a couple of global sliders and cropped. And Sebastian, your comments on images are so wonderful – I am delighted with your comments here even more than with the images!
Holy cow Diane! All the good things already said. I have always thought your images have a certain “honesty” about them. These are no exception.
Great birds with great action, with a great perch and a to die for, matching background.
Thanks, @Glenys_Passier ! Nature provided most of the look here. It was delightful to be witness to the interaction and to be allowed to capture it!
