Song thrush..

..with snail.

2D image so no red/cyan glasses required.

Sigma SD14 dslr
Sigma Bigma lens

Don't see this too often these days.
Bit far to the right David but I assume you wanted to include the slimey jobby !!!
Cheers
JR
PS Nice wopsy too.

Thanks John. Yes I wanted to include the broken shell.

My immediate reaction was the same as John's, but as soon as I saw that shell I thought you had done the right thing. If only the bird had turned around!

David

Hi David, having 'the bound' is good, plus the discarded shell, however compositionally it doesn't quite sit well within frame, it's too far right. Also it looks washed out with little depth to the image. There is no real blacks or mid tones, adjusting the levels to see what there is does show the image needs pushing to get that contrast, but levels is not the way to go, therefore I would look at the RAW. Saying that, the main element is that the head is not sharp and therefore is not a keeper IMHO. The focus needs to be on the head, that is the key element, it looks more to the rear of the bird? Just my take.

TFS
Steve

TFS
Steve

Thanks for the input, Stephen, just what I needed. I knew there were certain issues with it, just wanted confirmation by someone knowledgeable. It was more of a grab shot, as I heard the tapping going on in my front garden, so I grabbed the camera and took it through the double glazing, managing just one shot before it
saw me and took off. Thanks again for your advice, much appreciated.

I think as a natural History interest shot its definately a keeper. I,ve lost count of the number of times I,ve been asked for a Thrush and snail pic.This shot has its photographic faults maybe which are glaringly obvious,but in my humble opinion that,s not everything.
JR

Thanks John. I appreciated Stephen's advice as to what's wrong with the image in his opinion. It is, however only an opinion and open to other people to agree or disagree as they see fit.
There are faults most of which can be rectified including the space to the right. I'll give it a go and see what I can do.
Everybody I've shown it to (none photographers) likes it so that must count for something as they weren't just being polite, as they certainly would tell me if they thought it was rubbish.

I was reading an article, in a grow your own magazine, on natural pest control. The article contained
A picture of a snail and a picture of a song thrush, but not the two together.

That told me something, which you confirm, that there are not many pictures of a thrush with snail around.

So although a picture might not be technically up to the mark, if it is the only one it will probably be used.

Thanks again for your encouragement I will certainly keep this RAW file and re-work it when I have time.

Technical nits aside the image cetainly has merit as a natural history shot and I have seen many shots used in books and magazines that are not sharp, including the greats like Laurie Campbell and Andy Rouse. It needs a little work David but is still a fine shot capturing a rare fleeting moment. The old saying of being in the right place at the right time (and with a camera!) rings true here.

Nick.

Thanks Nick. For a hand held shot through double glazing, it's not too bad, IMO, I hope it encourages someone to post a better one of this subject!

All nits covered but an interesting natural history shot

Bob