Not sure exactly where this should go, but here will do.
After looking at Shorty's pictures of the Spotted Harrier, I was wondering what exactly it is that you (as in youse) aim to get out of the photos you take? I don't mean it as in bird photography as a hobby, but in an individual photo.
Is it utterly tack sharp, crystal clear photos?
Diagnostic photos that resemble those in a bird ID book as closely as possible so that you can better ID things in the future?
Photos with action in them?
Individual (or sets of) photos that tell a story?
Photos that describe the environment in which a bird exists (so where the background hasn't been sen bokeh oblivion)?
Photos that are technically precise?
Uncluttered photos with just the bird and a stick it's standing on to immediately draw attention to the subject?
Photos that break one or some of the established rules of bird photography?
Photos that describe the overall feeling of a moment, regardless of minor flaws?
Something I've missed?
So, what is the most important thing about a photo of a bird(besides the bird
)?
For me,usually it's a combination of the natural enviroment and the bird,not too much of each.
On top of that,it's nice to have a good eye reflection in the photo,and I'm sure many will agree with me about that.
You have outlined the answers very well already.
I think Nathan is spot on by saying, it is a combination of the environment the bird lives in and the birds. To that I would add , it’s important to know where the bird was found. Mostly everything that helps people looking at the photo to get a more complete picture. I like to tell stories that describe the specific character of the birds, and appreciate sequences depicting events, like BOP hunting or birds feeding etc. Personally, I’m more into action photos, when the bird is engaged into regular activities. But most of the time you just have to be happy with what you can get, that might be a bird on a stick (as you say), or a blurry photo. It has to be said, that this is not a competition, and we all appreciate everyone’s efforts, I know I do.
I could go on and on about this topic, no fear, I won't. But by looking at this forum you will get all the answers, the vast spectrum and variety of bird photos on BIBY enjoyed by all, that it what it's all about.
M-L
Something you forgot was 'the getting'...
Going to a (semi) obscure location, stalking quietly around the scrub looking up at the branches while at the same time trying to look down and make sure you don't trip, stepping on the rocks to avoid dry leaves and trying not to make snapping twig noises. Then you spot a quick movement out of the corner of your eye. Head snapping in the direction, eyes flashing then focussing on where the movement was. Aha it's a.. (insert inextricably long bird variety here) raisng the camera, quick checking the settings, viewfinder to eye... looks through viewfinde but you are looking at the wrong spot. Find bird in viewfinder, focusing, not quite right, focusing again.... Hold breath....Wheres that @#$% shutter button again. Click, click, click.
That is 'the getting' I reckon it's the best bit... but I also like it when I load the pics onto the computer and find something better than I thought or a lucky shot.
You forgot the snake in 'the getting'... You're happily barreling through the open mallee (sort of self-contradictory), hurdling the odd bit of timber in search of that elusive Regent Parrot you just got a glimpse of out of your eye... Then it registers: Oh crap, that log you are about to jump over has a Red-Bellied Black Snake lurking near it... @*$%, time for some aerobatics!
The getting is certainly the exciting bit!
Feel free to go on and on Araminta, thats why I created the thread- I wanted to hear everyone's opinions. The reason I was asking is because I found myself in a bizarre position trying to get a photo of a Eurasian Coot at eye level when I was part way up a steep and short river bank... I had perfectly good pictures of it from the top of the river bank, but because I had heard that photos are always better a eye level (the viewer thus has more connection with the subject, apparently) I had discounted all the previous photos as useless, and was thus in a strange position. After taking a few shots I had the thought: "Why am I lying here in the mud like this when I have perfectly good photos of this thing already?". I didn't have an answer, and after being prompted by Shorty's thread I though I'd enquire on the forum to better develop my own ideas.
I'm a bit pedantic, and thus the whole 'The photo MUST be like THIS' sort of appealed to me at first... Now, I'm so not sure, as there is more to photography than simply ticking a bunch of boxes after all... So, I guess I'm sort of using you all as a sounding board!
There were a few things I thought of afterwards.
The spider down the back of the shirt and the wasp or hornet on the chin (well it was a buzzy thing) both of which have happened to me. I have three spider bites that never seem to quite heal up and an itchy lump on my jaw not to mention the two leech bites on my right shin. I always come home with an itchy bite of some sort. Leeches leave awful itchy large bites on me now whereas they were barely noticeable when I was young. As far as snakes go I generally notice them disappearing into the bushes. I go quite slow when I am in the bush stalking. I only run if someone or something is chasing me (which doesn't happen much these days ;-)
As far as the pedantic photo composition bit. I am not so much like that. I like to try and frame as well as possible but I am more interested in just catching the bird doing something cool and crop it a bit later. I also like to try to get the 'classic pose' for the breed if possible. Although I was lying down on a rather damp patch of grass and guttering with my legs in the car park getting some eye level photos of Galahs and I could overhear people saying "look at that guy taking photos of birds" or "what's that guy doing" and I didn't care one jot what they thought. So I guess there is a bit of the pedant in me.
Come over to the dark side Richman... Deep down, you know you really are a pedant... Give in to your inner pedant...
Done with the gratuitous movie references...
"I only run if something is chasing me"... Something chasing you? Like what? Plover? Or has a Thylacoleo carnifex or two been resurrected that I don't know about?
How liberal are you with cropping? How much are you generally willing to take the cropping of a photo, because the quality does suffer a bit after heavy cropping.
Nothing wrong with Galahs, I was in the local park the other day trying to take photos of them (which they didn't appreciate) and someone whose house backed onto the park came to check what the racket was. He just stood there and stared accusingly at me for 5 minutes or so... I could almost hear him thinking "Gee, that guy's a wierdo, lying in the grass down there. I wish he would go somewhere else; they're only Galahs..."
I am just happy to get a shot, in which the bird is still present. Eyes aren't what they used to be, and I swear every time I pick up the camera, instant but temporary Parkinson's Disease, can't stop shaking, that is until I put the camera down. Just love getting out and having a go, every now and then get a respectable shot, but mostly out of focus, half birds, but have some lovely shots of foliage.
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Wasps, a swarm of bees, police, irate husbands/boyfriends, rampaging randy supermodels you know that sort of daily occurrence.
Thats a daily occurrence for you?! Darn, I thought rampaging Pleistocene marsupials happened to other people too for a moment there. Or maybe it was just a kangaroo?
I am aware of the pitfalls of heavy cropping I am not liberal in my cropping preferring to just help centre the bird or follow the rule of thirds.
Ok, thanks, was just curious. I love Galahs as mentioned in another post. I don't see enough of them.I like them too, they're beautiful birds. But they do have a reputation for being as common as muck. Like Ibises, but I like them as well.Lachlan ive been thinking about your question and i came up with this .....IF your happy with it well its a good shot ....Some people might not like your car your camera your wife or husbane , but its all personal preference people look at things different ways , i love this shot my son took and the way he did it up [ first 2 photo ] and i like the one i took , and yes it is enhanced a bit [ second2 photo ] but there on my computer for me and my friends , one who has been a bird watcher since he was 6 now 51 he got me into it . loves them but some people on here wont but thats ok , we all look at things different ways and that is the way it should be , it would be a boring world if we all thought the same ... so if the person who took the shot is happy with it ,in my books its all good .... Cheers
my aim to to get the whole bird in frame plus be able to tell it's really a bird and not a blurry something or other lol. I'm no pro and don't intend to be so alsong as I am able to id the bird i'm happy, catching it doing something interesting is a big bonus. I'm in for the adventure not the perfect picture :)
I have to totally agree with richman with ''the getting'' ( and you made me chuckle) . rbtbest love the first and second photo, must try some silhouette photography myself.
Kerry - Perth, Western Australia.
Thanks, guys. I appreciate your thoughts. Besty, what's the story behind the second photo? It seems to have two beaks? Are there two birds? I would be curious to know...
Lachlan he is havin a shack on a xmass beetle
richman pretty much summed it up for me too, "the getting" is the fun part for me - bloody funny as richman
. You would run from a rampaging randy supermodel, really? Tell the truth now
Of course it's a bonus to have something to identify, but I too am happy with the getting. More often than not, I also have a young family member with me, with their own camera and we turn it into a real nature adventure. I often say, "Photography is my Valium", but I might possibly change that now to "The Adventure of Getting" is my..." Either way, I can't stop, because it's dangerous & scary to go off your "meds" all of a sudden 
West Coast Tasmania
Would I run from a rampaging randy supermodel? Too right I would... In my experience they are nothin' but trouble. (with tongue firmly planted in cheek)