Ugly Shrike

[alainpascua]

Edu and I were having discussion when we saw this Shrike... It's just so ugly, thin, not prim and proper... it looks like it came straight from a garbage bin.

But I thought it challenging to shoot and present it in such a way as to lessen the ugliness, soften the bad impact.

Here's a couple of these tries:


Canon EOS 50D + 400mm EF f5.6L... 1/320, f5.6, iso160, handheld

The headless papaya tree and the aging bark reflects the sorry state of the shrike, but the lively BG is offering hope and life. Well, hope springs eternal.



Canon EOS 50D + 400mm EF f5.6L... 1/200, f5.6, iso400, handheld

My attemp here is not to present the shrike as a solo bird subject but rather equalize the emphasis to include the FG/BG to make a balance. Here the plants present a rather strong and active intervention on the entire picture. It's a celebration of life!

Would you agree, Edu? .... Just another attemp!

[Toto Gamboa]

Zobel art?

[des]

The tail is very worn and new feathers are appearing at the side. The flight feathers are moulting from the inner primaries out and it looks in body moult too.

[Ariel Matias]

You made it beautiful here! Congratulations.

[mantarey]

Image number is quite beautiful, love the way you framed it with green leaves. The choice of the larger apperture is brilliant to get that shallow DOF.

[Adri Constantino]

I like the second pic Alain. Nice framing job on this shrike.

[Mark Itol]

Hehehe, it is indeed a challenge to present a not-so-good-looking subject in a beautiful way. You did a good job on this.

[Edu Lorenzo Jr]

I would prefer this photo over the one that I have.. a photo of an impressively healthy, brightly colored cisticola but.. out of focus.

Great job Alain!

[Bob Kaufman]

Outstanding job on framing the second picture, Alain! The way you presented the first photo to project the total impact of the scene and not just the bird works very, very well, too.

[alainpascua]

Thank you Toto, Des, Ariel, Rey, Adri, Mark, Edu and Bob! Thanks for appreciating, never though that it would ellicit such kinds of positive comments!

[Romy Ocon]

Very creamy foreground and background..... nice shots of what seems to be a molting LTS!

[alainpascua]

Thank you, Ka Mastah!