Not so Perfect?

I regularly look at wildlife images on stock sites, other photographers sites, instagram feeds and a variety of other sources, and am always amazed at the quality of the images presented, from the colours, subtle depth of field, and in many cases the tranquil surroundings, especially of water based images. Am often wondering how did they do that? I wonder how long or how much time was invested to deliver such a perfect outcome?

The local camera club has a variety of guest speakers, covering a vast range of topics, together with a fair degree of natural history. Equally there are also some topics which you don’t come across too often which really make you pause and think and one such speaker recently (see future posts for more detail) set me off on a little experiment.

The speaker concerned was definitely in the ‘artistic’ element of photography, (was fascinating) and led me to experiment courtesy of some local birdlife (In this example a Mallard on the local river). The river is home to Ducks, swans, coots and other, and built all around is the town centre with pedestrian walkways, lights and the general hubbub of life. Undeterred the birds blissfully continue as the rest of the world buzzes around them.

A closer look, beyond the birds, shows a host of colour and pattern in the water, reflections of the thrash of everyday life which the Mallard unassumingly glides through. The not so perfect, it may be suggested jarring nature of the image presented, maybe sits at the other end of the spectrum we so readily associate with. The experiment is ongoing. http://www.raylawphoto.co.uk