Why You Must Take This Photo

Here it is.

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You must take this photo so that you can take the next one.

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Almost Okay

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This photo looks good in a small frame.

Upon close study, you'll notice that the bird on the left is slightly blurred.

After taking this photo, the birds moved closer together and I took a better photo where both birds are in sharp focus.

See it on my flickr page at: Two Green Herons

The Shadow

This could be an acceptable photo.

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Except for the shadow across the tip of this bird's bill.

Lesson: Pay attention to shadows that fall across the subject.

The bird, by the way, is a very young Green Heron.

Your Should See the Movie

This is a Cooper's Hawk, high in a tall tree.

So, the image is less than sharp.

However, the movie is more forgiving. See it at: Cooper's Hawk Video

Crop Different

This is the original photo.

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Note that the bird is nicely centered. Thus, there's too little space in front of it.

So, let's crop the photo. And let's use a custom crop, instead of a 3:2 crop. This leaves an attractive space around the bird, while leaving room for the bird to move into.

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Odd Benefit

Enlarge this photo so that you can see the feather detail.

Notice how many feathers are broken. This bird (a California Towhee) needs a good molt.

Pied-billed Grebe

This photo is okay.

The photo that I posted on flickr is better. See: Pied-billed Grebe