Behind The Scenes
A photo is said to be worth a thousand words, yet today we will explore how these words are pieced together by taking a behind the scenes look at some of my favourite bird photos and highlight what makes them successful so you can implement the same success on your next photo.
Simplicity
A clear example of do not judge a book by its cover! I initially glimpsed this black winged stilt searching for food next to a pond and although the thought of photographing the bird crossed my mind, there wasn't high expectation. What started out as a quick snap, move on to the next shot turned out to be more rewarding than anticipated.
While viewing the photo on my laptop there was no special feelings and I decided it was not worth the effort of editing. A year later I was cycling though some old photos and stumbled across this again, the bird's posing is sneakily captivating which lead me to experiment with applying numerous self-created Lightroom presets. One particular preset stood out immediately by bringing to life the light and shadows which unexpectedly transformed the photo. Almost as if the words of the book enchanted the photo with both simplicity and beauty.
A feature that enhances the photo is the battle of the subject. The different coloured pebbles that are being coated with lights and shadows attracts the attention of the viewer creating a beautiful confusion as to whether the central rocks or the bird to the side is the main subject.
The overall simplicity of the photo makes it easier on the eyes. A classic example of how a photo or book might not seem great at first but in time a happy ending it will become.
🔭146mm,🧿F8,💡ISO 1000,⏱1/400
Let It Rain
The sight of rain clouds is a forecast for ruined photography, yet why not turn the enemy into an ally.
Safe to say peacocks received extra fairy dust the day they were created, upon first glance at the fairy dust bird I proceed to snapping photos like no tomorrow, however when a wave rain droplets greeted me unexpectedly and interrupt my photography I had no choice but to run for cover. Fortunately the peacock was still in shooting distance so there was no reason to put the camera away just yet.
Even though the skies were not clear, during the editing phase the photo was clearly special. The editing plan was to accentuate the bird's special attributes. This includes making the colours more vibrant, creating a dramatic colour grade look, and including part of the tree in the crop to provide a nice colour contrast.
A peacock is known for its endless beauty however it has a certain fierceness that's reflected in its face. With the trees being coated with raindrops this served as the perfect background.
With all the unique elements at play the result is a dramatic photo that captures a different side of a peacock that is to cool to look directly at the camera.
Side Eyes
Nature its self can be the best model - no stressing about wardrobe selection as nature is the ultimate artist, no need for posing instructions as animals are true to themselves and not influenced to be out of character.
At first thought when viewing this Glossy Ibis the striking visual is its burgundy crimson red coated feathers. I captured a few photos of the bird attacking the water in hope of catching some small fish, however the special pose turned out to be a bigger catch.
The colour of the ibis really carries the photo, however the colour goes beyond the beauty of the feathers. The bird is predominately red and the faded green background enhances the overall colour of the photo given green is a complimentary colour to red. A great example is the beauty in Christmas expressing the colours of red and green.
The overall editing was minimal as nature's beauty had already done the hard work. The cherry on the cake is the model pose of the bird sporting the look away look.
🔭200mm,🧿F4,💡ISO 100,⏱1/320
Parental Duties
Some photos are simple as making someone smile, this photo ticks the smile box. The relationship between a parent and child is special, a parent shows its child unconditional love yet at times there are some growing pain moments and it's well documented in this photo.
This swan family was extra special to photograph, it consisted of 2 adults and 3 babies (unfortunately a local resident explained to me there were 5 babies but 2 were tragically lost). The family was photogenic and super friendly as one swans kept approaching me almost as if to say hi. Spent roughly an hour taking a variety shots, sounds like a long time but in the moment it seems real quick.
The grass rising out of the water definitely salvaged this photo otherwise the background would have been a white wash and visually overpower the swans.
The success factor here is to muster up the endurance and keep shooting for a long period to increases the chances of capturing a special moment - no pain no gain.
🔭105mm,🧿F4,💡ISO 320,⏱1/160
Shadows & Colour Accent
A rainbow lorikeet warped in an environment devoid of colour creates a beautiful strong juxtaposition.
I noticed this rainbow lorikeet routinely visiting this particular spot feasting on pollen and nectar the plants had specially served. Although I initially didn't have my camera I made a note to return again with my Canon R5. This may have seemed like a good idea but on the return visit there was a no show. I had made up my mind to leave and congratulating myself on time well wasted. As I began to turn away a particular bird was snacking on pollen looking directly towards me. The next 20 minutes consisted of snapping pictures until the new pictures were becoming a replica of the recent older ones.
I initially had a more conventional edit in mind, the position of the lorikeet is special as it effortlessly hanging upside down, I wasn't too pleased with the original edit so I left the photo hanging in the virtual space of my laptop.
Under the circumstances of a different time, different mood, different headspace who knows what creativity will be manifested . When reattempting the edit I concluded the background was overkill so I muted it by removing the colours and all of a sudden the shadows came to life - as if they were dancing around a rainbow in mid-air.
🔭200mm,🧿F4,💡ISO 1250,⏱1/200
Thank you for your time and effort :)
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