Hare

If you would like to post, you'll need to register. Note that if you have a BCG store account, you'll need a new, separate account here (we keep the two sites separate for security purposes).

B

Blue tit photo

Well-known member
Member's gallery
I went out to photograph some kingfishers but found only hares. This is the best shot and I want to ask does it work as a shot?
Hare final .jpg
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.
 
Member's gallery
Well, there's good detail and a catchlight of sorts, but the animal is pointed away from the viewer and isn't up to much so the photo isn't very engaging.
 
Member's gallery
Blue tit photo said:
I went out to photograph some kingfishers but found only hares. This is the best shot and I want to ask does it work as a shot?
Click to expand...
Does it work as a shot? Yes, absolutely. Exposure is good, focus is good, contrast and color saturation, composition, all good. So now we have a good photo of a hare. To make it more exciting we need to have the hare doing something unique, or it needs to be in a special or unique setting. Your chances for getting that exciting picture increase the more time you spend with the subject, being vigilant and watching for it to do that one exciting thing. It's for that reason that so many photographers spend so much time doing birds in flight.
 
Member's gallery
Blue tit photo said:
Better?
Click to expand...
Definitely a step in the right direction. As @Rassie says it's certainly a workable photo and a decent ID shot of an interesting wildlife subject. Start to learn their habits and where you might find them or what they might be doing and over time your Hare shots will get more interesting.

One thing that @Ziggy mentioned above is whenever possible wait for that moment when a wildlife subject glances into the frame. It doesn't need to be staring you down but when a subject's implied sight line leads into the frame instead of out of the frame the image is generally more engaging. Sure there are some occasional figure on a landscape type shots where the subject looking deeper into the frame and leading the viewer back deeper towards some kind of engaging landscape can work really nicely but for a single animal portrait it really helps when they're looking into the front half of the image instead of out of the back or side as the viewer's eyes will tend to follow the subject's gaze.

From that standpoint the Hare is still gazing a bit out of the back right side of the frame mostly through it's body position. It may not have been possible to reposition without scaring it away but sometimes it's just a matter of looking for better body or head positions. I see this all the time in bird photos where folks capture a really nice image but the bird is looking out the back of the frame and not engaging the viewer. In the case of small birds they twitch a lot so usually within moments they'll glance back your way if only for a second but a lot of folks seem to capture and share that image where they're looking the other way which isn't ideal.

The stick on the right side of the frame doesn't help either but I'd clone it out rather than crop it out as the framing is already plenty tight.
 
Member's gallery
Rassie said:
Does it work as a shot? Yes, absolutely. Exposure is good, focus is good, contrast and color saturation, composition, all good. So now we have a good photo of a hare. To make it more exciting we need to have the hare doing something unique, or it needs to be in a special or unique setting. Your chances for getting that exciting picture increase the more time you spend with the subject, being vigilant and watching for it to do that one exciting thing. It's for that reason that so many photographers spend so much time doing birds in flight.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your input. I understand that very well but since that was my first time seeing one of these I think it is a really good first shot. At least for a 13 year old.
DRwyoming said:
Definitely a step in the right direction. As @Rassie says it's certainly a workable photo and a decent ID shot of an interesting wildlife subject. Start to learn their habits and where you might find them or what they might be doing and over time your Hare shots will get more interesting.

One thing that @Ziggy mentioned above is whenever possible wait for that moment when a wildlife subject glances into the frame. It doesn't need to be staring you down but when a subject's implied sight line leads into the frame instead of out of the frame the image is generally more engaging. Sure there are some occasional figure on a landscape type shots where the subject looking deeper into the frame and leading the viewer back deeper towards some kind of engaging landscape can work really nicely but for a single animal portrait it really helps when they're looking into the front half of the image instead of out of the back or side as the viewer's eyes will tend to follow the subject's gaze.

From that standpoint the Hare is still gazing a bit out of the back right side of the frame mostly through it's body position. It may not have been possible to reposition without scaring it away but sometimes it's just a matter of looking for better body or head positions. I see this all the time in bird photos where folks capture a really nice image but the bird is looking out the back of the frame and not engaging the viewer. In the case of small birds they twitch a lot so usually within moments they'll glance back your way if only for a second but a lot of folks seem to capture and share that image where they're looking the other way which isn't ideal.

The stick on the right side of the frame doesn't help either but I'd clone it out rather than crop it out as the framing is already plenty tight.
Click to expand...
So yeah it is quite a shame, but when I was changing my autofocus point he turned his head, but I missed it. That was very frustrating. I hope I get another chance. I am going there on Thursday so hopefully.
 
Member's gallery
My criteria for an engaging photo are light, composition and moment.

Moment can just be eye contact. It can be eating.

It helps a lot to be at the subject's level and your shots are close to this.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top