2104_1609 Ring-necked Pheasant
While I wait for the spring migratory bird migration to pick up steam, a look back to last year at approximately this time. The Ring-necked Pheasant is a year round resident, some years seen in abundance, other years - not. Last fall my filmmaker friend George and I counted 75 of them in a single field, but it wasn't a photographic situation: we were looking into glaring light, and they were extremely skittish.
Single birds are often easier to photograph. This male was hanging out beside Hwy 18, along my usual access route to Grasslands Park, and when I stopped and exited the car in beautiful morning light, he posed nicely for me. It wasn't a "perfect" situation by any means; we were on a hill, and I was on the high side, looking down, therefore I couldn't do much to minimize the background. I had driven past him to get on the right side of the light, which was the more important consideration.
The background detail doesn't detract too much, despite not being ideal. But I do want to make the point that backgrounds are really important. I've seen a lot of great images ruined by lack of attention to background detail - including some of my own. I remember meeting a Famous Canadian Photographer at the counter of a film lab many years ago, and I was telling him about a recent encounter with some cow elk that got into a dispute right in front of me. They were up on their hind legs, lashing out at each other with front hooves. His first question: "How was the background?" Unfortunately, it wasn't great.
That one comment increased my awareness of backgrounds, so that today I always take them into consideration when assessing a scene or a shot. When I slow my vehicle down to try for a bird-on-post or bird-on-boulder or bird-on-sagebrush shot, I'm watching not only the light on the bird, but how the bird aligns with the background as I roll to a stop. I don't want to find "unlucky overlap" in my images. A foot or two can make a huge difference!
Photographed near Val Marie, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2021 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
2104_1609 Ring-necked Pheasant
While I wait for the spring migratory bird migration to pick up steam, a look back to last year at approximately this time. The Ring-necked Pheasant is a year round resident, some years seen in abundance, other years - not. Last fall my filmmaker friend George and I counted 75 of them in a single field, but it wasn't a photographic situation: we were looking into glaring light, and they were extremely skittish.
Single birds are often easier to photograph. This male was hanging out beside Hwy 18, along my usual access route to Grasslands Park, and when I stopped and exited the car in beautiful morning light, he posed nicely for me. It wasn't a "perfect" situation by any means; we were on a hill, and I was on the high side, looking down, therefore I couldn't do much to minimize the background. I had driven past him to get on the right side of the light, which was the more important consideration.
The background detail doesn't detract too much, despite not being ideal. But I do want to make the point that backgrounds are really important. I've seen a lot of great images ruined by lack of attention to background detail - including some of my own. I remember meeting a Famous Canadian Photographer at the counter of a film lab many years ago, and I was telling him about a recent encounter with some cow elk that got into a dispute right in front of me. They were up on their hind legs, lashing out at each other with front hooves. His first question: "How was the background?" Unfortunately, it wasn't great.
That one comment increased my awareness of backgrounds, so that today I always take them into consideration when assessing a scene or a shot. When I slow my vehicle down to try for a bird-on-post or bird-on-boulder or bird-on-sagebrush shot, I'm watching not only the light on the bird, but how the bird aligns with the background as I roll to a stop. I don't want to find "unlucky overlap" in my images. A foot or two can make a huge difference!
Photographed near Val Marie, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2021 James R. Page - all rights reserved.