Comments needed on ist DS Phots

I've been taking photos with Pentax kit since the 80's but since going digital am now getting more serious about what I take and what they look like to other people.

So I'm trying to learn what like minded people do and don't like about my photos.

Any comments on this one would be very much appreciated




Wild Booted Eagle taken Tsavo East 2005.
iST DS 400mm 1/400 ISO800 F/7.1

Many thanks to you all I find these forums really useful

Excellent photo and at ISO 800 too, well done.

Constructive criticism: I think the photo would benefit from some cropping, leaving about as much all round as you have below the tallons. Also make it portrait instead of landscape. You might need to lose a bit of its tail to achieve this but I don't think the photo will suffer any.

Fun comment: Wild, he looks livid to me. Sorry, couldn't resist.

Regards,

Thanks Mannesty

I'll have a go at the cropping but didn't want to loose the feeling of its awsome size and where he was.

Like the comment "Wild, he looks livid to me" probably was after I'd been pointing the camera at him for 5 mins.

wonderful photo very simple and and a credit to your photography. Would be interesting to see how this shot would have turned out with the K10D DSLR.

Only one point i would have placed the bird to the left or right of the shot using the rule of thirds

But great photo

Pete

Thanks for the comments
Here are a couple of different crops on the same image







My personal pref is the horizontal crop taking him to the right a bit.

Yes, I prefer the second crop too - great picture!

Jonathan

second crop is great

Pete

The first crop doesn't work because there's not enough space to the left. The eagle appears to be looking to the viewer's left, and the close crop is creating a tension which spoils it.

Generally, check which way the subject is looking and make space for them to "look into". That's not to say you'd never have a close crop like that though...

Matt

Is he called Gerald?

I agree with Mattmatic - there needs to be more space to the left with the new crop. It might be worth trying to place the head and the end of the tail on the rule of thirds points to see if this makes a more powerful composition. Even then, you may need more space on the left.

Well I like the top shot best but . . .

It would work better (agreeing with Matt) if there was a little more to the left of the bird in the top crop.

My suggestion for a killer pic is to adjust your crop such that the birds legs are roughly in the middle (perhaps a little to the right) of the horizontal axis. That should be about right.
I personally disagree with those that like the second crop better. There is too much (un)detail to the left of the main subject. Also, your subject is a portrait subject and to my mind is best printed as such. You could also try my suggestion of losing a bit of the tail. Just to see how it works if nothing else.

I don't entirely agree about this particular pic being a portrait shot, though I do agree that this sort of picture is often best as a portrait.

For a satisfying portrait, the bird would need to have been shot from 45 degrees to the left, so that the body and tail would have been shortened.

Forcing a portrait by cutting off the tail doesn't, to me, look good.

I think this is a pic of a great looking bird, but, sadly, no amount of cropping will make it into a great pic.

Also, it looks rather flat on my monitor. I think it needs the monkey treatment.

G

PS: Keep 'em coming, Rodger.

Only problem is when you're bouncing around in the back of a 4x4 on dirt tracks, dust flying everywhere and a driver who really doesn't want to stop for anything that flies it's very disicult to get the position right

And if you get out you tend to get eaten by lions

Then the bird flew off 2 secs after I took the pic grrr...

Guess what I'm saying is wildlife can be infuriating when its not behind bars - no time to set up, put on diffusers etc... just take the shot when you see it.

I'll try the monkey treatment on it and see what happens

Watch this space

This is what I mean.



I think that is more a study of the bird rather than a study of a bird sitting on/in a tree.

Regards,

Ah - So thats it - I like that.

Here's one after I applied the monkey treatment - Perhaps a little over the top but interesting