Testing The Bird Photographers’ Presence of Mind

For casual bird photographers – such as birders, bird guides and ornithologists, just getting an image of a bird will suffice – they only need them for identification purpose, or for record or to study the feather patterns and their colors. But professional bird photographers like myself – we need the images at a different class altogether. We need them clear, sharp, well framed and, above all, UNCLUTTERED. There is where our agony is – getting them uncluttered.

Cluttered and crowded from all sides

Sharp, clear, well framed and UNCLUTTERED!

Birds feed in thick foliage and under dimly lit forest undergrowth. In some cases, many weeks and months and hundreds of hours will go into acquiring an image that is acceptable to a professional. At times we get so frustrated – we are forced to resort to trickery! The following image is an example of a trickery executed by me.

Flipped in a way that is naturally IMPOSSIBLE!

The bird image is that of the pretty and colorful Red-headed Bullfinch. It is portrayed feeding on a plant with a seedhead - called Elsholtzia densa Bentham, as identified by our botanist Ms. Rebecca Pradhan.

Two of the Elsholtzia plant species on which the Red-headed Bullfinch feed during the winter months. They eat the dry seeds found in the seedheads of the plants

A sub-adult Red-headed Bullfinch feeding on the dry seeds of the Elsholtzia Fruticosa (D.Don) Rehder plant

In order to test the presence of mind of the Society Members, I posted the above image in the Group Chat of Bhutan Birdlife Society consisting of current membership of 296, who are either birders, bird photographers or birding guides or ornithologists. I asked them to point out the flaw in the image. One Member – Chencho Wangdi – responded thus:

“Good Morning Yeshey Sir. The photo should be upward”:

Originally shot in a vertical format

He is spot on - meaning that his presence of mind is very good!! I had flipped the image so that the bird is presented feeding on a horizontal Elsholtzia densa Bentham plant. I did this to see if the Members would notice the flaw in the image.

Elsholtzia densa Bentham always grows vertically – not horizontally. Thus it is impossible that the bird is feeding on a vertical Elsholtzia densa Bentham plant.

A cluster of Elsholtzia densa Bentham plants. The plants grow so close to each other that it is near impossible to get an uncluttered image. The plant grows vertically and has no horizontal branches. Thus it is not possible to present an image with the bird perched on a horizontal plant/branch

But there is still a lesson here – that if it is difficult or impossible to shoot a bird aesthetically in the horizontal format, shoot it in a vertical format – and then convert it into a horizontal format, post-shooting. However, make sure that you do not make a silly mistake like my demonstration.

Depending on the placement of the image on a page, I regularly flip images. One reason why I do this is because I do not like vertically oriented images - and I do not like my images facing outward. Thus a bird image that is destined to be placed on the right hand page, I will flip the image so that the bird is looking inward and not outward.

The image on the right is the same as the one on the left - but flipped to face left - so that the image is not facing outwards

As a rule, your image has to always be facing inward. It is for this reason that you allocate more space in the front of the image – to give it space – so that the image is not looking too crammed.