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Silhouette Birds

Gallery: Weekly ChallengePosted March 21, 201169 views6 comments

O.K., I could have called them black birds……but this is a silhouette challenge! Actually, these are Greater Antillean Grackles (Quiscalus niger). The photo was taken in Cuba last month. I experimented with converting the image to b & w. However, in the end I decidedthat this image with a pano crop works best. Not all of the birds are posed as I would like them to be posed. Also, there are some foreground OOF branches at the borders. However, I find the this whole jumble of birds and branches somehow attractive.

All comments very welcome.

1D Mark IV, 400 mm f/5.6, 1.4x TC, hand held: ISO 1250, 1/800 s, f/9, 0 EV (Manual), 5.5 MP after cropping, usual NR, exposure adjustment, sharpening.

Comments

6 comments

Comment posted by Luis Argerich on March 22, 2011 at 11:19 AM

Not sure if those are silhouettes or just black birds. I like the group of birds and the contrast with the tree and background.

Registered on December 22, 2009, 91 Posts, 1349 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Balke on March 22, 2011 at 3:21 PM

Thank you, Luis. These may well be "just black birds". However, they are also silhouettes. This challenge started me to thinking as to what is a "silhouette". According to Wikipedia it is an image where the object consists of "the outline and a featureless interior, with the silhouetted object usually being black". That said, I posted this for fun. I think it's an interesting image and it does make us think about what we consider a silhouette.

Registered on June 18, 2009, 229 Posts, 2915 Comments

Comment posted by Monica Siri on March 23, 2011 at 12:39 PM

Steve,
different and nice interpretation of this theme. I like all those black birds, spread out rationally on the branches, against the clear background. Very nice comp.

Registered on September 20, 2009, 132 Posts, 3764 Comments

Comment posted by Craig Myers on March 23, 2011 at 11:22 PM

Very cool image. I really like the combination of the birds and the branches in silhouette against the featureless sky. As a photo beyond this challenge, it would be nice to find a way to remove those background trees at the edges.

Registered on September 1, 2008, 85 Posts, 757 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Balke on March 26, 2011 at 9:00 PM

Thank you very much for your very enjoyable comments, Monica and Craig. Craig, it wouldn't take much to remove those OOF branches on the edges: I could just crop them out with maybe a little sky cloning for the one on the LHS. Kinda hate to do it though: I thought it was neat having the tree framed by them....but I've been wrong before!

Registered on June 18, 2009, 229 Posts, 2915 Comments

Comment posted by Varina Patel on March 28, 2011 at 2:32 PM

I love the jumble of birds and branches - and I like your decision to keep the color. I suspect that the birds would get a little lost in the branches in a monotone image. The rich, brown color helps to separate them out. I think I slight crop would work well - I agree that the blurred branches are a bit distracting. Neat shot!

Registered on August 22, 2008, 45 Posts, 1578 Comments