montanasoybean Loc: Montana

Went down to the beach and got to shoot some pics of the pelicans. Great camera and great lens makes for great pictures, but how can these be made into art? These were shot in JPEG and no PP. Any suggestions welcome!

English_Wolf Loc: Near Pensacola, FL

They cannot be made into art.

Not because they are bad (far from it) but because you have to think about art before taking the shots. At that point, you will not even ask!
You picture taking is excellent. No flaw to be seen (I would like to see the originals but according to previous pictures you posted, you are capable, so not too concerned)

#1 There is very little to with a group taken from afar.

#2 and #3 Show good vision. But (sorry about what follow) They are ordinary. If you can afford it, and the bird not too shy and accessible, try a different point of view, even a disturbing one.

Cultivate a personal originality that in the end will not only distance you from ordinary wild life photographers but will give you great reward within yourself. The external kudos means nothing, same as criticism. You cannot please everyone. (That should be "Mission Impossible" 6 or 7, whatever the number is now)

Art is about you, no one else.
The appreciation of it is about your public, not you.

Now this is only me, other folks will have other opinions, just as valid because this is about interpretation, not about technique.

Classic


'Disturbing'


Disturbing, using pixelisation

Gidgette Loc: Boerne,Texas

I like #2 & #3 the best. Thanks for sharing.

EarthArts Loc: Schenectady,NY

Nice pictures . . . But they are a little out of focus? When doing photos of individual birds/animals focus on the eye. The middle Pelican is nice but why did you cut off his bill? If it were in focus you might make something artistic involving the eye and the surrounding color patterns. Work on composition, the last image is too centered. Keep shooting and post more. Hope this helps a little.

Photoman74 Loc: Conroe Tx

:P :P :P

Bmac Loc: Long Island, NY

Excellent images Montana, especially like the second due to the vertical lines leading up to the pelican's eye. Thanks for sharing. 8-)

russelray Loc: La Mesa CA

Are they not art already? Perhaps you need to define what your idea of art is.

Since I live in San Diego, I go out at least once a day to take pictures. Usually wind up coming home with 300-500 pictures.

stevenelson Loc: Pauls Valley, Oklahoma

Mr. Wolf did you ask before working on pics or before posting your own or making them your own. I really don't care one way or another, but, I know you do. I just don't like hippocrits. I do think you have a lot of good advice, but, maybe you should quit yelling at people for doing what you just did.

English_Wolf Loc: Near Pensacola, FL

Trouble is, you do not know the background.

The OP asked me to come here... So, once again someone is shooting off his keyboard right into its finger. Want a hammer with that?

stevenelson Loc: Pauls Valley, Oklahoma

If this was so private then why did he even bother to post it in public. And sure give me a 10 pounder.

English_Wolf Loc: Near Pensacola, FL

Hell no! Too expensive, I have my nephew beach hammer instead.

montanasoybean Loc: Montana

I like EW comments and had asked him for his advise. People - life is to short to get wound up in the little things. GOD, country, family - focus on those. Everything else is gravy. EW's and all comments are only worth the value we put on them. I asked. EW responded. Thank you for the response. I don't fully understand disturbing - using pixelisatiom, but with continued (photo) growth, someday I will. Life is change, progress is optional.

stevenelson Loc: Pauls Valley, Oklahoma

But the beach hammer won't hurt enough.

English_Wolf Loc: Near Pensacola, FL

In this case I meant using the somewhat prehistoric look of the bird. A pelican is an odd bird (same as turkeys and vulture). Playing on the look itself is what I call 'disturbing'. Using the bird to make it look like what it is not by using various angles. This is only an idea, a weird point of view and far from being a recipe to success, it is just an unusual way too look at something.In this case it is a suggestion to use the computer to create your own interpretation. Pixelisation is basically using the high magnification of an image, down to the pixel to isolate a detail. In this case the eye but... the eye has a weird surrounding that looks like it is part of another bird head that has no other feature. Once again, it is one of my weird idea and really not something that will become art but something that offers a different point of view.

Art is beyond photography. It is a step above that is interpretative and presents a point of view that is yours and unique. To achieve that, as said before, you need to know in advance what you are looking for and shoot toward creating your final product, as art.

What we generally call 'fine art photography' is a display of one's control of the technique, not an interpretation or a creation/modification into something new. In the art creation process, strangely enough, an exacting mastery of photography is not a per-requisite, even if the mastering will come later as one matures.

Folks here, at times, present stuff that is sometime a work of art, even if I do not know how to appreciate it as they present it as 'photography'. This is particularly true when it comes to HDR (High Dynamic Range). I recall posting a couple of things that could be presented as 'art' but in reality, for me, it was the result of not being able to do what I wanted so in anger, blended the whole thing to create something too complex to appreciate (or so I thought). I still do not like it, still feel the anger and still want to redo the shots, properly, but I need to go to France, in a city I usually never visit.

There is no right or wrong in art, unless you try to sell. But then again, I often question the sanity of art collectors.

English_Wolf Loc: Near Pensacola, FL

I do not hurt folks for no reason. Now, a mosquito...