Improve Wildlife Bird Photography by Focusing on the Details

In this video, I show some examples of how details can make your wildlife work stand out.

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[TomReichner]

at 12:28 you ask, "I'm wondering ... does this work for you?" Yes, Scott, your fabulous Wood Duck image works for me 100%! I absolutely love it for all of the reasons you give - it's like you articulated exactly what I was thinking as I examined the image. To me, the water drop on the bill makes this so much more than it would be without it, because it gives my eye two places to go and my eyes and brain connect the two points of interest. That's so much better than just having the cool curves in the wake to look at.

[charlesmcfarren]

The duck/wake photograph is no longer photography; it moves into the realm of art. Love it!

[anaphylaxis]

Your photo definitely works for me. The light on the smooth water as the bird pushes it is awesome!

[thomasberner]

The wave, the droplet and the colors are wonderful and make the picture. We all have seen a duck before but not that way. A piece of art.

[VABrowneMDPhD]

Gorgeous silhouette with the curved bright leading line of the water. Very artistic!

[larryrudnick]

The wood duck shot is great. You saw something that most photographers wouldn't and made the shot an abstract piece of art instead of documentary (even if the silhouette is nice).

[clausgiloi]

I totally agree. Details can be pleasing and set your photo apart from all the photos that have already been taken of your subject.

[craigwallace]

I love your food for thought theme videos. It seems everyone is out in nature taking excellent images that look almost identical, what you are sharing here to me is a way to help your photography stand out from the crowd, be more unique. Thanks for sharing.

[RetrieverTrainingAlone]

Excellent! As a newbie, I am not familiar with "dodging and burning". I usually crop and do minimal adjustments. On to youtube to learn about "dodging and burning"!

[penelopereeves]

That tip about looking for the something unique, however small, is an incredibly useful tip - thank you :)

[amandaluker]

I loved the dark wood duck with the water droplet

[neilcole]

Well l know it’s my cup of tea Scott, the shot has to sometimes be about the art not just the subject, l love it!

[yophotodude]

One of the things I will tell others: “When you’re too close, get closer”. What this means is if you can’t get a good composition because you’re too close to your subject, start looking for something interesting in the smaller/detail/macro world. The cropped horse photo is an excellent application of that. Find something interesting by bringing it more into focus. For instance a close up of elephant wrinkles. I recently did this with a Zebra where it just didn’t want to give me anything that I could use of it’s full body, so I instead looked to see what abstractish thing I could make out of the pattern on it’s face.

This concept of focus on the details is good advice, even for the seasoned pro.

[mazenhamdoun]

Love the edit on the wood duck ! I agree that the artistic approach elevated this image. One thing I would do is make that leading line on the left just a tad shorter. I think it makes the image balance out better left/right but again maybe you intended to make the image ever slightly imbalanced. Love your work and channel Scott ! Keep it up.

[neildbarker]

I like your point about Birders and Photographers. This is something I struggle with sometimes on my walks and hikes. As a birder, I always get excited seeing a bird that is uncommon or even one of my Lifelist on eBird. Unfortunately, I sometimes rush to get a photo instead of attempting to see potential for a more artistic photograph. Thanks for sharing.

[cathyklimes]

Water droplets always does it for me. In dark photography or light.

[frankhaugwitz]

Thanks Scott for sharing ! Same here, I am transitioning from subject fixation (birds) towards back/foreground, light, details, habitat, etc., i.e. I am paying a lot more attention to these issues. Yes, the Wood Duck is just great and “that style or approach” would work for me too!

[TomReichner]

What you say at 9:55 reminds me of something a friend of mine told me years ago. He leads wildlife photo tours for a living, and he said that the biggest thing he has to help his clients get over is "subject fixation". As we advance and improve in our wildlife photography, we begin to be able to take the subject for granted and focus intentionally on things like the background, supporting elements, surrounding vegetation, interplay of light and shadow, etc.

[imagesbyoutlaw]

That last comp of the wood duck is nice! Notice how he had cocked his head at an angle showin he is lookin at somethin higher up that could be a predator and or is reactin to a sound heard. Very nice sir!

[TheWildlifeGallery]

The Woody is fire🔥- my favorite shots are always backlit - those "pretty" scenes are hard to come by - unless you put the time in then they happen more often. Great Video