Sunday, August 26, 2007
Common Nighthawk / Palmettos
Comments:
I love the background patterns. I know that the subject is the bird, but the photo is those patterns for me.
Thanks, Colin. I agree -- I have many other better and closer, photos of the nighthawks from this day -- but this is the only one I was able to get with the palmettos in the background and some decent light. (It rained shortly after this).
I think the backgroud is pretty special too!
The feathers on the bird look very waxy and the wing appears to be 'concave', almost deflated. It is as of you haven't blown it up properly!! :-)
The barbed wire shows how small the DoF is.
My first thought was that the bird was not real, but a decoy placed on the post. Interesting series of contrasting colors and textures; bird, post, fence and background palms. Also nice placement with the post in the left third, gives a nice balance to the image.
It bears repeating - it is the background that stands out! In fact, if one took the Nighthawk away it would still work! Still, I've never seen a Common Nighthawk, nor any other if they exist, so even this somnolent specimen is interesting. It has an amazingly small beak. I entered into a competition a crow coming in to land with a strong line of wire across about where you have the barbed wire and the judge objected - crazy!
Thanks for your comments.
A word about the bird for those interested -- John, not many people have seen one of these birds, or one of its relatives, mainly because they are nocturnal and usually spend much of their day either on the ground or in trees, where they blend in so well they are nearly invisible.
That tiny beak is deceptive, since these birds have a huge "gape" -- so when they soar around at night they open it wide and ingest literally thousands of insects while on the wing.
"so when they soar around at night they open it wide and ingest literally thousands of insects while on the wing"
I learn a lot on stills, sometimes even things about photography ;-)
All the textures make this work. The palmettos in the background, the barbed wire, the fence post and the bird itself. The geometry of this works well too, with the slightly off center post. Not a typical bird photo in some ways, but it works well.
Well that is a static shot of a bird... but it works so well this time. The bird is so at odds with its background that you can't but help trying to blend it in as it were. Beautiful explosion of greenery bottom right corner. Given all the softness in the background that barbed wire adds a good line of sharpness to break things up. Well seen and captured.
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The feathers on the bird look very waxy and the wing appears to be 'concave', almost deflated. It is as of you haven't blown it up properly!! :-)
The barbed wire shows how small the DoF is.
A word about the bird for those interested -- John, not many people have seen one of these birds, or one of its relatives, mainly because they are nocturnal and usually spend much of their day either on the ground or in trees, where they blend in so well they are nearly invisible.
That tiny beak is deceptive, since these birds have a huge "gape" -- so when they soar around at night they open it wide and ingest literally thousands of insects while on the wing.
I learn a lot on stills, sometimes even things about photography ;-)
All the textures make this work. The palmettos in the background, the barbed wire, the fence post and the bird itself. The geometry of this works well too, with the slightly off center post. Not a typical bird photo in some ways, but it works well.