Joe F.N. Loc: Oshawa, Ontario

We all take a lot of pictures. Many are discarded, a lot of them are so so and then occasionally we take one that holds our interest from the moment it presents itself.
This photograph of a Brown Thrasher was such an image.
All of the elements are not perfect. There's no such thing as a perfect photograph but if there are enough elements, combined, that are pleasing and fit within the frame, you might be onto something. This to me is such a shot.
As I trained my lens on the bird, I could see a very attractive environment and one that would require a 16:9 crop to display it.
Here's what I saw.
The bird was in a pocket of tangled branches. One was across his chest and he was actually leaning against it. So the branch stays. The perch was at one end of a V leading the eye to the subject. There was lots of open space in front of the bird. Good. In the top left corner is a 'Y' shaped bit of foliage. I chose not to remove it since it gave some in frame balance. An interesting highlight was in the center of the picture, giving the impression of an introduced light but it was natural. Bottom right corner shows a very out of focus segment. These were branches that were inside the minimum focusing distance and couldn't have been in a better spot.
The high light for me were the shadows of some branches in the center highlight. In that position they almost produced a 3D image of the main subject. The BG was nicely OOF and free of noise. All the colors complimented the bird and not one competed with it.
Put it all together and this is the photograph I settled for after post processing.
You may agree or disagree with my findings. What I set out to do in the narration was to give you a glimpse of what goes on in the mind of this bird photographer.

(Download)

Heirloom Tomato Loc: Oregon

Joe, your thought process on this photo makes perfect sense. You have a very good photo. Thanks for sharing it.

Paul in CT Loc: Watertown, CT

Thanks, I enjoy hearing some background about taking the photo and how other photographers think.

TraceyG Loc: SW, Fl.

Thanks for sharing, i just keep on learning! Beautiful!

Sunfish 33 Loc: Merritt Island, Fl

Wow Joe! I really like this and I also appreciate the narrative. Beautiful photo.

jeanbug35 Loc: Jonesboro AR

Very nice.

carlysue Loc: Columbus

It is amazing to me how your brain works and all happens in such nanoseconds! All of that thought process before clicking the shutter and before the bird gets spooked and takes flight.
To make these observations so automatic, I suppose you are going to tell me to practice. be patient. practice. back to basics.practice. practice. You know how I don't like that answer.

Joe F.N. Loc: Oshawa, Ontario

Thanks HT. I'm glad it made sense to you. I often question myself. ;)

erbiv Loc: Ellijay, GA ...retired from Anchorage, AK

Outstanding photograph Joe! Your accompanying lesson is appreciated.

Joe F.N. Loc: Oshawa, Ontario

I do too Paul when people provide it. And that's not often enough. Thank you.

Joe F.N. Loc: Oshawa, Ontario

And that's what an exercise like this is all about Tracey. Sharing it is my pleasure.

Joe F.N. Loc: Oshawa, Ontario

Thanks a lot Lamar. Glad you liked it.

Joe F.N. Loc: Oshawa, Ontario

Thanks Jean.

Bob Yankle Loc: Burlington, NC

And then you run smack-dab into the thinking of some viewers who find the various elements "distractions", who would want to "clean it up". As far as I'm concerned, that's fine too ..... it truly does take a lot of people to run a world. That being said, Joe, you're the best bird man I know and a Hell of a photographer to boot!

lensbaby007 Loc: Ohio

I really enjoyed your accompanying narrative to this photograph. It really helps me in my learning process. Thank you for sharing. I think this is one of your very finest photos. I hope this one makes it into your book.