and why plain blue skies aren’t my favorite backgrounds.
Occasionally I get some mild blowback from readers when I say I don’t have much enthusiasm for homogenous blue sky backgrounds in my photos. I don’t dislike them but I do think they tend to be kind of… blah.
I’ll use the following photo to illustrate my point of view.
1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in
This is an older photo of a rufous Red-tailed Hawk as ‘she’ was perched in a tree on Goose Egg Island at Farmington Bay WMA. Her wings are raised to maintain stability as she adjusted her feet on the less than stable perch.
I think she’s gorgeous.
In my view the blue sky mixed with clouds is one of the primary strengths of the image. If the sky had been homogenous blue or homogenous clouds I’d find the image to be much less interesting. For me plain blue skies are just sort of… there and they don’t contribute much to the overall image, although they don’t detract either.
I thought about including another version of this photo with a plain blue sky substituted for the real one so readers could compare the two versions and make up their own minds but then I realized I don’t even know how to do that. I’m sure I could figure it out pretty quickly but why tempt a bad habit.
For some photographers faking backgrounds is almost standard fare but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth, even when it isn’t meant to be deceptive to viewers.
Ron
I agree that the clouds add to the composition, but if you hadn’t mentioned them I certainly would not have noticed because of the magnificence of the subject. I prefer homogenous blue to a plain white overcast sky and sometimes play with the color temperature to find a hint of blue.
She’s so magnificent that I’m not even looking at the sky, so once again, I’m no help at all. What else is new? 😉
She’s a stunner isn’t she, Marty.
Indeed!
I am always blown away by how stunning raptors are!
Given a choice, I totally agree with you on all counts. Some clouds to add interest always (IMO) beat a plain blue sky. “Adding” items to a photograph is a skill I have not yet attempted. Adjusting technical aspects, yep. I even “removed” a twig once. Didn’t like the result so have tried to do a better job in the field of moving six inches to the right.
Thank you for sharing another superb photograph (and technical/ethical opinions)!
“have tried to do a better job in the field of moving six inches to the right”
Wally, that’s a lesson that many photographers never learn. Being aware of our backgrounds when we’re setting up the shot is critical. Often just moving a few inches will mitigate or completely remove a problem in the background.
“Little brother/sister to the golden eagle” is so beautifully illustrated here…WONDERFUL IMAGE!!!👍
Thanks very much, Patty.
I adore this image — one of my all-time favorites of your many gorgeous Red-tail shots — and I agree the slightly cloudy sky adds to its beauty.
But am I missing something—or are you? I don’t see your copyright …. 😳
Good eye, Chris. I was wondering if anyone would notice.
I purposely left my copyright watermark off because the best place I could put it is in the upper right hand corner where it would ‘interfere’ with the clouds that were the primary focus of this post.
If I remember I’m going to add the watermark to the image in a day or two.
She is spectacularly beautiful (and yes I did notice her britches). I am with you about the sky as well – perhaps because I associate completely blue skies with burning (too often literally) heat.
EC, I share your association of blue skies with too much heat. Sometimes at least.
You could sway me either way. Beautiful photograph of a bird in its natural element is what I see.
…feather canyons everywhere…. I really don’t know clouds, at all.
Lyle, “I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now” and I know I prefer a few of them in my blue sky backgrounds… 🙂
As I went to sleep last night, I hoped to see that beautiful rufous redtail this morning and darn if she’s not there! THANK YOU! I’ve been thinking about her the past couple of days. She’s such a beauty and I’m in desperate need of beauty this morning!!
Yep the doctored photo COULD get out into the world and there goes your reputation! We can’t have that!!! And I’ve got an imagination. That said I’ve always been a fan of Carolina blue skies. I grew up in Akron, Ohio where dreary and cloudy were the norm–or that’s how I perceived it. After moving west, the lyric, “and the skies are not cloudy all day,” resonated in my soul. But that’s me. Different strokes. You probably grew up with clear skies so they’re not as big a deal.
After gasping at the beauty of this amazing image, my first thought was that I hoped you saw it and hoe much you would appreciate it🤟
Patty, yes I think it’s beautiful – the bird and the image. All the natural colors appeal to me especially.
Laura, I love blue skies. But as backgrounds in my images I’d prefer there to be a few puffy clouds mixed in.
I have a guess as to why you prefer some “texture” to the backgrounds in
your shots– a bird itself is so full of patterns and textures that a
very plain background–of any color–often isn’t consonant with all of the visual
activity in the subject area– it can make the bird appear to be “cut and
pasted”, and it’s often a dead give-away of an image which has been digitally manipulated –given your ethic, I’m guessing that you’re super-sensitive to
even a hint of that kind of appearance !
Kris – possibly but I’ve never thought it throurh. I just know what I prefer.
That is one gorgeous hawk and photo Ron. Great job. I really like the clouds in the blue sky and I think I would have made mention of that even if you had not. There are times when I really appreciate a clear blue sky and then other times like this when the clouds contribute to the photo. Like you I don’t have Photoshop nor would know how to replace a sky with perfect blue.
Keep those natural honest ethical photos coming.
Everett, actually I DO have PS and I use it daily for standard processing like cropping, sharpening and tonal adjustments.
Such a glowing, beautiful portrait! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, Mary.
Beautiful hawk and sky REALLY sets it off……😀 Plain blue would not be near as nice tho , like Dana, I’ll take all the blue skies I can get these days! 😉
More cold – the around zero type cold – and snow. Today will have to take down my pond like it or not! 26 and dense fog advisory for this morning – high of 33 (hopefully) This batch of winter really not going to let go for awhile. 😞
Thanks, Judy. Those winters up there are tough. I remember them all too well.
These days in Calif. we are quite joyful if we see a blue, no smoke sky! Maybe boring photos, but still…. breathing is nice
Your photo is very fine, thank you!
I agree, Dana. I love blue skies for the same reasons you do and more. In fact I’m strongly hoping for them today.
But if I had my druthers there’d be a few fluffy white clouds amongst the blue in my backgrounds.
Man, you have one gorgeous hawk to admire! Love the shot!!
Thanks, Dick. She’s something isn’t she.