Abejarucos (Merops apiaster)

He says that the birds were free, not caged. Whether that means wilderness or the local park or his backyard is unstated.

....And that's my problem with the shot. It looks like two stuffed birds shot in a studio.

Scott, looks as though they were captured in shade using a multiple flash rig, hence the "studio" look. Still, it's a lot better than an over-flashed, black backround shot, I think. See the catchlights in the eye? Looks like two small flashes, not one, round one. The available light was just enough to allow the flashes to be used as accent, hence the look.

The folder has another shot of them on the same limb, one of them alighting with wings spread, and the setting and natural lighting are more obvious in that shot.

Chris, I'm not saying that the lighting was natural, only that the natural setting is clear from that other shot. I think that you are right about the flash.

Again, I'm not accusing the photog of shooting this in a studio.

 

Be it just some fluke of lighting or what-ever, it just looks like a couple strobes on either side.

Very nice shot, but what?s up with the branch? In this shot the branch is stripped of bark but in the shot of these birds alighting the branch has bark? (http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=3288615). Did the bark get stripped & these wild birds came back to roost? The bare branch does make for the nicer shot.

Great! Just great, perfectly, beautiful photo with great colors and background.

The branches ae different. If he did use a multiple flash setup I don't care. It is an outstanding image that I'm sure we would all be proud to have in our portfolio.

Pretty shot. I do not find anything overly unique or original though. I think the bird on the right is a bit over-exposed and the one on the left a bit under---maybe not overly so but enough to take a bit away from the image. Also the one on the left looks a little blurry or soft----am I the only one to see that? Some people say how perfectly sharp they both are---so maybe it's me. I'm not too keen on both of them facing away, the one on the left I find is especially in an awkward position with it's back completely to us and the feathers ruffled in an unattractive way, IMO.

 

Do not get me wrong, I think the photog should get accolades for this nice capture, especially for his efforts if it was indeed wild birds in a wild setting. However with this flood of effusive and praise that it is perfect, I simply cannot agree with that 100%. This is a nice shot and I'd be happy to say I shot it, however there are loads of perfectly exposed, perfectly-situated, razor sharp bird images out there--but this is not one of them.

As always, i am not interested in the exposure or sharpness. If this were a painting, I doubt anyone would say things like "that bird is too dark". As an image, this photograph works very well, and nit picking at technical foofaw, or how it was done or whether it's "real" or not is a complete waste of time.

This is a very good photograph in my opinion, albeit a bit kitschy. However, I don't think this photograph is meant to say anything about the human condition, or some other pretentious statement expected from art snobs as myself.

Visually, it works very well. The subject is clear, the content lends itself to the subject, and the only flaws would need to be seen by someone who is very good at photography. While it's not something I would photograph personally, I am drawn to the image because it is more about light and color than it is about the immediate subject - the birds. It is not about the technology used to capture it, or the patience it took to make, even if it did.Hoyos made this image without the craft required being overwhelming or superior to the content.

In addition to the wow factor of being lit so well, being so sharp, and being so colorful, I like the way my eyes go back and forth between the two birds' heads. I like comparing and contrasting the two - looking at the one on the right first, and then seeing the sort of "startled/frizzled" look of the one on the left - then going back to the first, and switching between the two of them. I think it's a nice contrast and a little humor between the two. Apparently, there's something coming from the left that the bird on the right doesn't know about yet. =)

IMHO and my opinion carries little weight among such talent as is here on his site. This is a beautiful photo

 

Judy

I've always loved colors from the D70 and these colors are simply beautiful. Nice capture.

i like the picture, but i want a lot more from it. if it's a pair of stuffed birds in a studio, please put something in the background to evoke a brilliant 19th century still life in a gentleman's study. if this did take place in nature, then shoot it the analogue way so we can see the atmosphere of natural light. perhaps, as scott suggests, you were the victim of some extraordinary natural conditions--though i'll go out on a limb and suggest a leica/contax/jupiter lens on a decent slide film would have made it all far less ambiguous and quite possibly a lot more striking.

 

i am also perplexed that a 50-500mm lens would get any sort of award. that's sort of like giving a sports equipment prize to something meant to serve (at 20% effectiveness) as both a tennis racket and hockey stick. great fun for your 5 year-old kids, but not...

"I've always loved colors from the D70 --Nora Haniff

 

i hope my reply doesn't come across as unnecessarily argumentative, but this if this sort of comment isn't confronted, it will help promote a great deal of misconception.

 

the d70, like all digital cameras, has some firmware inside it that converts what the sensor REALLY captured (a pathetic approximation of reality) into colour and dynamics. anyone who shots seriously, will wish to intervene by capturing RAW images and deciding just how to interpolate upon import to photoshop--where even more can be done subsequently to get exactly the colour you want. what i want is rarely that which any digital camera assumes and i'd like to think more capable photographers hold similar views.

 

if what you meant to say is that the d70 is a very capable point-and-shoot, then i withdraw my comments but you will risk offending the photographer and a large crowd of brand loyalists.

Pretty shot, indeed, but compare it to this one. That's the difference between a masterpiece (Wilson's work) and a simple decorative photo. Regards. Blago

Bird photography being so popular in photo.net it was only a matter of time to see a POW like this. This one certainly carries a huge "wow" effect but it fails to have any emotional impact. Does it provoke any thought? Is this an image I think about for some time? I don't think so.

The birds are altogether freedom. They have not been photographed in any park, nor national reserve. The birds are in a zone in the south of Andalucia (Spain), at which they arrive coming from the North. In this zone the birds construct their nests and have their chicks. When the chicks estan ready they continue his trip towards Africa. As far as the branch in which they estan put the birds are placed by the photographer despues of many days of study. The lights of back are moderate, is observed the fall of the Sun, etc. For the accomplishment of this photography they have been used more than three months of preparations. I know everything what I tell you because alive in this place and have accompanied the photographer. Greetings.

Sorry by my very bad english.

 

Los pajaros estan en total libertad. Ellos no han sido fotografiados en ningun parque, ni reserva nacional.

Los pajaros se encuentran en una zona en el sur de Andalucia (Espa�a), a la cual llegan procedentes del Norte. En esta zona los pajaros construyen sus nidos y tienen sus polluelos. Cuando los polluelos estan listos continuan su viaje hacia Africa.

En cuanto a la rama en la cual estan posados los pajaros son colocadas por el fotografo despues de muchos dias de estudio. Se miden las luces de atrᳬ se observa la caí¤¡ del Sol, etc.

Para la realizacion de esta fotografia se han empleado mas de tres meses de preparativos.

Yo se todo lo que os cuento porque vivo en este lugar y he acompa�ado al fotografo.

Saludos.

Entiendo, Daza.

 

I understand, Daza. The problem here is that "total libertad" (literally, "total liberty") implies "in the wild," but not necessarily "wilderness," the word used by another Spanish speaker far above when this issue first came up. (There are subtleties of English that are conveyed here that might not be immediately obvious to speakers of other languages.)

 

Thus, for our purposes, it matters not whether the "total liberty" is that of the backyard, a park, or total wilderness.

 

Again, as I said before, the point is that the birds are free, not caged, and I think that we grasped that.

 

Nonetheless, thank you for your comments.

Daza, as for lighting, since you have accompanied the photographer, I assume that we can trust your call on that.

 

However, since the shot of the bird alighting on the branch in the same folder shows the branch with bark, whereas the Photo of the Week shows the branch without bark (and apparently the same branch), there still remains some doubt in my mind as to whether or not you were with the photographer in both cases, and thus whether you are aware whether or not the lighting was absolutely natural in both cases.

 

The "catch lights" in the eyes raise these questions, as does the relatively even lighting across the birds, which might or might not be consisent with lighting by the sun alone.

 

I shall leave that for others to decide, until we hear from Francisco himself. We don't mean to nitpick. We just like to understand that most fundamental variable in photography: light.

 

Thanks, again. Always good to hear from you guys from the south of Spain, which is where a lot of us would like to be right now, "en estos momentos."

Francisco not yet knows that this photography has been chosen as "it photographs of the week". At the moment one is photographing Cernicalos Primilla (Lesser Kestrel). The illumination is a combination of natural light and two flashes in manual way (NG 25-30, not it memory). The distance between the photographer and the birds is approximately of two meters. The branch where are the birds is not the same one that in the other photographies. Sometimes moss of green or yellow color is used to decorate the branch. Here I show an image to you taken by me, in the same zone, separated twenty meters, the part of back is the river. A pleasure to talk with you.

 

I recommend to you you visit the page Web of Angel Pulido. They work together.

http://www.photo.net/shared/community-member?user_id=1148495

 

Francisco aun no sabe que esta fotografia ha sido elegida como "fotografia de la semana".

En estos momentos se encuentra fotografiando Cernicalos Primilla (Lesser Kestrel).

La iluminaci�n es una combinacion de luz natural y dos flashes en modo manual (NG 25-30, no lo recuerdo).

La distancia entre el fotografo y los p᪡ros es aproximadamente de dos metros.

La rama donde se encuentran los pajaros no es la misma que en las otras fotografias. En ocasiones se utiliza musgo de color verde o amarillo para decorar la rama.

Aqui te muestro una imagen tomada por mi, en la misma zona, separada veinte metros, la parte de atras es el rí¯®

Un placer conversar contigo.

Thanks for clearing that up, Daza: "the illumination is a combination of natural light and two flashes. . . ."

 

Your own photo is very nice as well, and your English is quite good as well. I hope that Francisco brings us back another nice capture.

Daza, I see that you say that Angel Pulido also shoots with Francisco and with you. His photos are very good, as is your own photo of your dog shot in a studio!

 

I would like to know more about how you guys use flashes when shooting birds in the wild. Nos vemos, amigo.

Beautiful bird photography. Not sure, but it's possible the catchlight on the left bird is from fill flash and the right bird is natural light from the sun. A close look at the perches immediately revealed they were different. Sounds like they were pre-placed, but no problem with that... just smart planning. :) I had wondered about the wonderfully smooth background, but the close camera work readily explains that. Congrats on POW, very well deserved!