![\"rough-legged](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/rough-legged-hawk-9457-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\nPartially based on input from my readers I’ve been thinking more about styles in my bird photography.<\/p>\n
Everything else being equal, BIH (bird in habitat) images are my preference but they’re not easy to pull off because other elements in the image so often obstruct or compete with the bird.\u00a0 At the other extreme are birds in flight (BIF) against a plain background (such as blue sky)\u00a0which can almost seem sterile.\u00a0 To my eye each of these two images show\u00a0both the potential advantages and disadvantages of each style.<\/p>\n
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1\/2500, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D, 500 f\/4, several twig tips poking into frame edge removed,\u00a0not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n I photographed this Rough-legged Hawk this past Christmas Eve Day at Farmington Bay.\u00a0 I like the mottled\u00a0colors provided by the ice and open water in the background and I think the side-light on the hawk works well.\u00a0 And even though the bird is well isolated from the bush I’m less enthused by the jumbled branches in front of the hawk, especially because I didn’t have enough depth of field to get them all sharp.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D, 500 f\/4, 1.4\u00a0tc,\u00a0not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n This image is at the other extreme – another Rough-legged Hawk but this time in flight against an uninteresting background.\u00a0 The wing position isn’t very dramatic but\u00a0for my tastes the excellent eye contact and the vole in the talons help to make up for both shortcomings.<\/p>\n Nature photography is nearly always a trade-off unless you’re willing to “photo shop” your images to within an inch of their life by\u00a0adding and removing background and foreground elements, cloning out imperfections and\u00a0drastically altering contrast and colors in subject and setting.\u00a0 But to me such images become nothing more than demonstrations of processing skill and are less than honest if the manipulations haven’t been disclosed, as is very often the case.\u00a0 And at some point they cease to be nature photography.<\/p>\n Yes, I’m rambling this morning but I just went with the flow to see where it would take me.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Partially based on input from my readers I’ve been thinking more about styles in my bird photography.<\/p>\n![\"rough-legged](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/rough-legged-hawk-1941-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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