#2 Is a fantastic angle to capture a bird at, were you elevated in some fashion?
Both are super nice shots. However, #1 blows me away. I like everything about it: the crop and the B&W conversion...
Conventional (read conservative) bird photographers will pass by #1 with not a comment. They have no artistic bent!
I like both. #2 slightly ahead of #1 but both fine images. The b/w works quite well in this instance.
awesome pictures!
nothing to add
Hi Richard, #2 is more conventional BIF shot. But something about #1 struck me (may be the symmetry or the lighting or both), so instead of discarding it, I tried the BW conversion and was quite happy about it. Than I tried a square crop to emphasize the diagonals / symmetry. So basically, I did not have any idea about the final image, rather it took shape step by step. (I am yet to reach that stage where I can pre-visualize an image and then work on to there). So I take lot of pictures with every possible angle and then select the best of them to work on.
Glad to know that you liked it. I enjoy your images very much.
Thanks Bobo, Dave and Nicola for your encouraging words.