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Questions to guide your feedback
I went to San Diego last weekend and decided to try and shoot some “artistic” blurry bird photos. There were terns, pelicans, cormies and the usual assortment of shore birds but I focused mainly on the pelican and terns. I decided to upload 3 different images to get your initial reaction to these types of images. I certainly know these are not for everyone so if you don’t like them let me know but if you do find them at least a little bit artistic, let me know that too. My wife loves them and my daughter hates them. There you have it.
Other Information
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Image Description
I guess what I’d like to know is if you have to have a portion of the bird, preferably the head/eyes pretty much in focus or can they be relatively blurry so long as you know what the image is of? I don’t know and I suppose everyone has different thoughts on this, hence my daughter hating these and my wife loving them.
Technical Details
These were all taken on the Z8, 100-400mm lens, and shot at 1/20th of a second. I fond that 1/20 or there abouts is the sweet spot at least for pelican and mostly terns. These were all shot in manual mode so I knew what the shutter speed was going to be and I just adjusted the aperture and ISO to get the desired shutter speed.
Initial reaction: don’t like 1 (especially the brownish bits), neutral about 3 (might be better not blurred) - but I love 2, full of zany motion and nice blending colors. There you have it!
I like all three of these, David. The first is the cleanest with the bill and eye sharpest which does add to the effectiveness, but I love the camouflage effect in the second a lot as well. The motion blur in the third is different and blurs the bill and eye a lot, but I like the way it works with the wings. A nice set of images and your panni gis very good.
Hi David, I like all of them given the artistic intent of your processing. They all convey a sense of movement with the necessary complimentary blur. These types of images would never replace the truer rendering of the subjects in action for me but I know that is not your intent. Well done and an interesting take on the subject IMO.
My initial thought on seeing the thumbnail (which is #1) was that this was a cool shot with the head in focus and the blurred wings suggesting motion. I think I’d like #2 better with a watery background-not crazy about all that brown. Again, the head is in fair focus with the blurred wings suggesting motion. I like the soft color palette of the third, but the overall blurriness of the pelican is a bit much for my taste-for me, it would be a great image with the head in focus.
Interesting. I don’t think anything needs to be sharp for an artistic image, but I find the tonalities on the first two a little jarring. I wonder how it would feel if the blues weren’t so dark in the both and the tans more subdued in the second one. But that’s purely just my taste, for an artistic image (or at least a nature-themed one) to be on the peaceful side.
Excellent idea David and all the better because you can go back for more after you learn from these first images. In general, I’m aware that a “rule” for these kinds of bird shots is wings blurred, head sharp. Might as well get some because you can. Another opportunity is bird sharp, background blurred, achieved with tracking and/or DOF. That said, these shots are really cool and qualify as photo art for sure. I like the fact that the effect was achieved in camera, not in computer. The style of the middle one has the greatest potential, in my view, because it has dramatic motion throughout and tests the line between pure abstract and an identifiable subject.
Of course you know that La Jolla is Pelican Shooter’s Heaven, but for Pelican Nirvana, I recommend Point Lobos State Park south of Carmel.
Very well thought out and executed, David. Excellent technique to keep the focus on the head during the panning. I like all three, but the first two more than the third mainly for the contrasting colors and being able to see the eye a little more clearly. The wing position and overall dynamics have come out very well in all three.
Hi David. I like the first one because of the same reasons Dennis mentioned. The eye and bill are sharper and the rest is blurred showing movement. I also like the contrast in the first image. The other two don’t do much for me (sorry). But number one is really cool!
I agree that rock formations that the pelicans come in to land on are quite disruptive in the first 2 images. Thanks also to all all of you for your honesty. As I know from experience, these are definitely not for everyone and that is certainly true for these three images as well.
Diane, I agree about the jarring tonality issues with the first two. You’re spot on. I’ll work to tone those areas down to see if that helps at all. This was more of a 1 hour experiment than anything else so I don’t know how much time I’ll put into trying to make these better. I may go back down for one more trip to try and better isolate the terns and pelicans and only have water as a backdrop.
James, I here what you’re saying about both La Jolla and also Point Lobos. Point Lobos is about a 6 hour drive for me and La Jolla is about an hour but they are incredible for pelicans, and cormorants. I was just in Carmel a few weeks ago but I had my dogs with me and animals are no longer allowed to go in the Point Lobos state park even if you keep them in the vehicle. We didn’t know this. It’s also a terrific place to see otters close up as I’m sure you are aware of. I love it!!!
Thanks again for your time everyone. I appreciate it.
