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.

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.

Thank you for the commentary on your though process. It gives me something to aim for. I tend to make my decisions on an emotional basis. The problem with that is, the emotions don't take into account the merits of the photo.

Congratulations on getting a clear shot of this difficult bird. They have a habit of getting into thick undergrowth and staying there. I guess it gives them a measure of protection from predators, A much different strategy than chickadees who never stay in the same place for more than a few seconds.

Joe, another great photo....thanks very much for taking the time to explain your thought process, very enlightening. For me, at first this photo looks a little busy, but the extreme clarity of the bird holds my attention....then after downloading it REALLY pops! Thanks for posting such great photos, often with really good narratives. I think there are many, many of us here on the Hog that are inspired by your abilities and are trying very hard to take better photos too. I would love to be told someday "That's just like one of Joe's shots!"
Many Thanks!

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.