Unidentified Birds

[AJ2k4]

Posting two photographs for some critique. Taken awhile ago with a Nikon d40 + 18-200mm. After viewing them on my monitor, I already noticed how the eyes and some other parts on both birds could be sharper. Looking forward to your other comments/tips.

[tirediron]

These are not really the sorts of images that are suitable for critique simply because to me they are "take what you can get" images. You've mentioned they're not quite as sharp as they could, and it's a shame that #1 has a bit of tail missing. For #2, I would suggest a re-crop to eliminate the large amount of empty space to image right.


They certainly interesting birds; I have no idea what they are. The top one looks like a hung-over pigeon who put on someone elses feathers that morning, and the bottom one looks like an escapee from a tropical aviary.

[Marko]

First off - I don't agree with tirediron that these shots are not suitable for critique. We all come to this site with different levels of experience. Until we get that experience, we post what we have and we learn from the critiques of others.

I find shot 1 has a lot of distractions in the background.

I quite like shot 2 though. It's so cute - Love the colours!
I agree that the right side should be cropped until the perch. The eye should be sharpened as well.

Hope that helps,

Marko

[tirediron]

First off - I don't agree with tirediron that these shots are not suitable for critique. We all come to this site with different levels of experience. Until we get that experience, we post what we have and we learn from the critiques of others.

<snipped>
Marko

Just so I don't ruffle any feathers, ( ) let me explain what I meant by 'not suitable for critique'. I don't mean that the images are not worthy of critique, rather that the perceived flaws are ones over which the photographer has no control because of the circumstances. The bird landed where the bird landed and it was a capture of opportunity. Therefore, unlike an image which is carefully composed, but contains unintentional technical flaws, comment on such things as the background in this case isn't really fair to the photographer because there was little that could be done about it.

There's no right or wrong here, just different viewpoints.

But, you have to admit that top bird does look like he put on the wrong feathers!

[AJ2k4]

I get what you mean tiredon, thanks for the comment and thanks marko about the advice about cropping. Cropping is something I need to get in the habit of doing more often :P