Street life

I love to watch crows. This one was particularly interested in me as well.

Thoughts and opinions ?

Thanks

This is interesting - like the shadow and rippling effect in the water - it's the type of photo I keep looking at again and again - thinking that the image might be a bit stronger if the top third were cropped - just a thought.

Very cool.  Your timing, focus, and composition are impeccable.  You can't pay for eye contact like that!  That's a very healthy looking crow... especially when you consider what it's drinking... bleech.  I love the harsh environment your photo implies and the way the bird and ripples contrast with the rigid structure of the background.  I wonder if the tonality was intentional or if it was just the shadows that lent the blue-ish hue to the overall scene?

The only issue I have is the similarity in tonality between the crow and it's surroundings.  I would have gone all the way with a cool monotone or done something in post to differentiate between subject and background...

In my edit (sorry, bored... hope you don't mind) I warmed the cobbles and water a little using a #85 warming filter in Photoshop at about 20% opacity while leaving the crow untouched.  I also desaturated everything but the bird a little.  I cropped the top to appease Sam.  I don't totally agree with him but can understand his thinking.  And finally, applied a slight vignette to focus more attention on your bird and isolate it a bit from the background.

Thank you to both of you for your ideas/thoughts.

Jeff- I was watching two crows for quite awhile down on River St. This guy was watching me (or my camera) just about as intently. They are such intelligent birds. He/she was actually picking cigarette butts out of the pooled water and then drinking and playing in it. The next time you get close to a crow, look at their feathers. They are really not black except in certain light. Or at least not the ones we have here in the south. I think magpies out west are more of a true black. Anyway, had this one not been so cooperative I probably wouldn't have gotten such a good picture of him! I am still just using my kit Nikkor lens. Good lens, I just haven't chosen a next lens!

I love the way you enhanced the warm color in the cobblestone/background. It allows the algae growing on the stones to show. It is such a cold photo, but that was the environment. Amazing how life adapts.

I left this photo unaltered (only cropped it) because I wanted some opinions. The photo was taken with no flash, saturation and sharpness were normal, ISO 400, white balance on auto, aperture 4.7. I am still learning but hope that helps with description.

Here's another shot of the same bird....

Thanks for the compliments and it was great hearing from you!!

I really like this photo. It's not a crow but a common Grackle.  The contrast is great. His reflection and the droplet of water from his beak make for a very interesting photo. I would crop the cigarette butt out. Your timing was perfect...............cheers!

Jaime- Thank you for telling me this. I guess crows are just a similar species. I honestly do not know a whole lot about bird species. I had thought this bird, along with the few others it was with, were blackbirds but, they were cawing and were so large in body that I thought they must be crows.

Very interesting. I'm glad I know now! He was picking the cigarette butts out of the pooled water and then drinking and bathing. I thought, pretty smart bird. The street was so polluted.

I agree with you about the butt in the top portion of the photo. I left it there mainly to show the condition of the street. It is a bit distracting and draws your eyes away from the bird.

Thank you for sharing your knowledge of birds, and for your compliment and suggestion.

Take care

Jeff, I like what you did with the tonality. I agree about the cigarette. The center of attention for me is the eye, followed by the circular shadow in the water - the cig keeps pulling me away from those focal points.

Thanks, Sam.  It's just an option, the coolness of Michelle's photo lends a certain mood to the scene that I think more accurately conveys the dirty, cold, polluted nature of it all.  I really was just bored ;)

Regarding the crop, I agree that the cigarette butt at the top is a distraction, I also feel there's just too much space there. Plus, there are already two butts in the water and another near the Grackle's (thanks Jamie) tail to tell the story, the one at the top is unnecessary, IMO.