Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Up close

Finally got around to posting again - photo's are backing up a bit - after a few days up north.

When I got my new camera kit the ability to get in closer to the subject led to the inevitable habit of trying to fill the frame every time. I now realise that the right thing to do is to achieve a balance between the desire to go in close on a subject and the equally relevant - and often more relevant - need to set the subject in the context of it's environment. If you want to see what I mean have a look at some of Dave Slater's pictures - very good pictures may have the subject as a relatively small component, but set the context so well. Examples would be his snow bunting or redpoll shots. In both cases reining back a little makes for a lovely photo.



That said I am now going to ignore the points I've just made and post a selection of uncropped near frame fillers from a recent trip up north. Many were simply a consequence of the lens combination I was using when a bird flew to a certain position, and I snapped away! You may or may not be able to click them for larger versions. Sorry about the seed in quite a lot of the pics - bit intrusive, but that's why the birds were there. I've got other shots without it, but not necessarily so close.

Coot
Mute swan
Reed Bunting - male (not old and greying, just coming into breeding plumage!)
Reed bunting - female
Pheasant - female
Blackbird - male
Blackbird - female
Greenfinch - male
Dunnock
Willow Tit
Long-tailed Tit
Tree Sparrow
Bullfinch - male
Bullfinch - female
My last shot is a close up - more than filled the frame - but also a bit of an abstract crop, because I liked the patterns and the light.

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