Sunday, November 11, 2007

What not to do

Today's post serves as a lesson: you should not take photos through a dirty window and an even dirtier screen!

And you should definitely not cut a raptor's wings off...

For the correct way of taking hawk photos, please visit here ;-)

22 comments:

Chris said...

Your comments under your photos made me laugh! I don't know why, but I'm surprised to see that there are hawks in Naples. . .

Nikon said...

Nice shots, anyway, Isabella. Such odd light on the bottom one.
Abraham, may have the advantage, though :)

Annie said...

Isabella, you must call your shots Art Photography.

And that's a nice homage to Abraham's work.

Anonymous said...

Thank you Isabella. It is a magnificent shot of a bird not often easy to photograph.

I was glad to see the hawks are alive and hunting in Florida too. I see photographs of hawks and eagles in flight too and they are almost always perfectly composed. I am not able to do that yet. I get lucky now and then and do capture something in flight but not a hawk yet.

Thanks again.

Jilly said...

This is good news. I'm taking this as a sign and will now probably - eventually - use a photo I took in Monaco a day or so ago, where I chopped the top of the woman's head off! I still like the story it tells. And I love the story your photos tell. What a privilege to see such a beautiful bird. You framed him so beautifully. I love the way he sits between those two branches.

Abraham's the master at bird photography, of course and we are mere mortals - and I love that you mentioned him.

Kate said...

Good morning, Isabella. The bird is magnificent. I love seeing what bloggers consider "errors" since we're all not Ansel Adams (or Abraham Lincoln)it gives me hope!

Steve Buser said...

But here is the question -- is better to take the photo through a dirty window or foggy lens, than to not take the photo at all. There are the purest who want perfectly focused pixels. And there are those who think the picture of the moment, the brush with reality in whatever its form is the true art.

I'm with the latter and think your photos capture the magic of the moment.

--steve buser
New Orleans Daily Photo

Anonymous said...

I think the Hawk in Flight looks like a postage stamp. Air Mail 50¢.
Beautiful shot.

Gwen said...

Regardless of the dirty window, your hawk image turned out nicely, didn't it? These birds are incredible to watch and see in flight.

Felicia said...

I say it is pretty close to Abraham's! More than I can say for myself when it comes to birds. Reading Frank's comment...umm the price for air mail has gone up substantially (I think it's 91 cents or so)!

sonia a. mascaro said...

I like these photos, Isabella! I think that is very difficult to photograph birds!

Gerald (SK14) said...

I'm with Steve it is better to shoot and hope than not to shoot at all.

Of course sometimes we spend time trying to photograph the moment when we'd be better off just sitting back and enjoying it.

Peter said...

If you have the intention to reach Abraham's level, it will of course be tough, but the first photo would have been close to perfect if you had got the windows cleaned. Think about the window cleaning!

Linda said...

Would you believe that I saw a vulture in the street in Austin, Tx? I took a photo but, even though the bird was at least three feet tall, it was too far away and in my photo looks the size of a pigeon. It was finishing off a dead squirrel. I didn't know they had vultures in Tx. This was called a Black Vulture. The ones with red heads are further south.

Olivier said...

superbe ton portait de ce faucon. j'aime beaucoup
Wearing beautiful tone of this falcon. J'aime beaucoup

TORUŃ DAILY PHOTO said...

Not bad pics at all Isabella. Still they say you learn from your mistakes. But here they're not VERY big. Thanks for your email. I will give you your prize next time you're in Toruń!

Chica, Cienna, and Cali said...

modesty is thy middle name :)

JAM said...

I like the shots anyway.

I've found that you can usually correct to a large extent, for the loss of contrast and color from having shot through a window by using Photoshop Elements or whichever program you prefer.

freefalling said...

I took some photos through a dirty window and flyscreen back in August.
You were very kind, and said my photos were like delicate silk-screens (aren't you nice?).
But I must say, I LOVE the second shot, it's very arty-farty and really captures a mood (which mood, I haven't decided).
Remember this post:
http://freefallingskyward.blogspot.com/2007/08/splash-of-colour.html

Anonymous said...

But beautiful nonetheless! Never seen such a bird up close.

Mary Stebbins Taitt said...

Lovely bird, fun photos even if not quite "perfect"

jessica said...

if you did not point those out, i would never have noticed.

lovelye pictures.