Bird Feeder

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I took this last summer in Washington Square Park. It's one of those pictures I was never sure of. A lot of light reflecting off of him. Comments welcomed.


[IMG]1080780-2 by pongo now, on Flickr[/IMG]

[Manfred M]

Looks to me that this is a mid-day image, so you are fighting some very hard light, which is tricky when photographing people. The scene is quite busy; the backpack and bottle all add lots of complexity to the scene and we really have to look hard to see the birds. The fence is another distracting element.

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Thanks, Manfred.

[Geoff F]

A difficult scene and you did what you could with it.

Maybe I would crop a little off the top to remove some distraction and concentrate on the main elements.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Daniel,

I have to agree the shot is sadly far too busy.

If mine, I'd crop hugely - to just include the two LH birds and stop just past the guy's head on the RH side. I'd also clone remove several distractions from what's left, in fact it even occurred to me to 'move' the RH bird to the other side of his head to bring it back in shot. Whose to know whether one was perched there a few seconds before/after this was clicked?

I accept that for most people, that would be taking far too many liberties with it, but it's what I might do.

HTH,
Dave

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Geoff, copping a bit off the top would be an improvement.

Dave, I have done the crop you suggested and others. None of them excite me.

For me, this image won't go beyond what it is. Not something that can be fixed. It is what it is.

[Dave Humphries]

For me, this image won't go beyond what it is. Not something that can be fixed. It is what it is.

That's fair enough Daniel, you were there and may have interacted with the guy, but even if not, the shot means more to you as a record of that moment and I appreciate my suggested crop would lose too much of that.

[MrB]

Daniel, I appreciate this shot. It is called "Bird Feeder", so the story for me is the gentleman feeding the birds. The stuff on the bench gives the context - he has stopped for his own lunch, and then been able to give the birds their lunch too!

Was it a grab shot? Did you have time to consider (i) exposing for the highlights (and to bring up mid- and shadow-tones in post-processing), and (ii) using a wider aperture to put the background out of focus? As presented here, I would agree with cropping off the top to just above his head.

Cheers.
Philip.

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Hello Philp. Stopping for lunch is part of it. I think he feeds birds regularly and was out to catch the sun. I was walking through the park to look for pictures. That day got a saxophone player which I posted in the past and the bird feeder. When I passed the bird feeder he was just like you see him. I paused in front of him and got his attention. I motioned with my camera and he nodded and turned his head and continued to feed the birds. I took a few quick shots and continued on my way.
I doubt that I did any adjustments to the camera. When I photographed a saxophone player just before, I was sitting on a bench and I did try different adjustments. I was under no pressure and taking my time. My subject was a street performer and seemed to enjoy getting photographed. The bird feeder was different. He seemed like someone who valued his privacy. I didn't want to intrude. Since then I learned to keep my camera at about F8, S250 with auto ISO when I walk around to quickly catch a moment. Seen that recommendation on a youtube video on street photography.
I don't remember what I did with this in post-processing. A wider aperture would have been nice. Still working with my two kit lenses. I want to spend more time with what I have, but in all likely hood will get a lens with a wider aperture at some point down the road. Thank you for your questions and comment. Daniel

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That's fair enough Daniel, you were there and may have interacted with the guy, but even if not, the shot means more to you as a record of that moment and I appreciate my suggested crop would lose too much of that.

Some memories though good, aren't as photogenic as others. Thank you Dave for your comments.