Purple Martin Courtship Series


Hi there


Getting closer


Ignoring one another


“Holding hands”

Critique Style Requested: Standard

The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.

Description

I’ve been keeping an eye on our Purple Martin gourd rack this week to see how many we’re getting in (they are a bit late this year). A couple of days ago I caught this pair in what looked like courtship. These are four of a couple of hundred frames of the interaction.

Specific Feedback

Does this series actually communicate a story? I could fake it a little and add a shot of a couple on their “porch” but I couldn’t even be sure it’s this couple, so it would make me a bit uncomfortable to present it that way. In this case, they flew off in one of the mass explosions of birds that this species delights in only to return in minutes, usually to different perches.

Technical Details

Sony A1, FE 200-600 + 1.4 TC @ 700 mm (hoping for flight shots), monopod with Wimberley Sidekick head, f/9, 1/2500, iso 1000. Processed in LR (global white balance and luminosity adjustments synchronized for all images) and Photoshop (cropping, removing part of another perch and microcontrast boost on the birds. All images taken the morning of April 17th between 7:43 and 7:49.


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Hi Dennis, courtship or in tandem preening? Who knows? I’ll go with whatever you say. They do seem to be up to something so I think this does tell a story. Nice captures throughout with good sharpness and DOF.

Excellent interaction series. Great detail and the colors are handled well-it’s sometimes tough to get that color and detail in the male.

It’s interesting how humans like to think we know what animals are thinking or “saying”. Whatever it is they are doing it’s wonderful story telling.

Well captured and processed.