20 December 2009

Black-backed gull, evening

Last light
Bird portraits seem predominantly to focus on portraying the subject in vivid colours with strong light that maximises detail. Fine — done well, they can be spectacular — but sometimes a different approach can be refreshing. One doesn’t often see soft light and pastel colours in bird portraits (I’m not saying they don’t exist, just that they seem under-represented). Anyway, for what it’s worth, here’s my form of protest at the excesses of Velvia-like over-saturation and high contrast.

The bird is a black-backed gull (Larus dominicanus) on the coast of Wellington harbour on a midwinter evening in 2006.

All content © 2009 Pete McGregor
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4 comments:

  1. Zhoen21 December 2009 at 05:09

    Seems to be posing for you. I like the softer colors, the way we usually see birds.

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  2. pohanginapete21 December 2009 at 08:34

    Thanks Zhoen. They are posers.

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  3. Tim Parkin21 December 2009 at 10:23

    I have to agree ... there are good times to use velvia and bad times. I can't imagine velvia is high up in the list of 'best film stocks for wildlife'.

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  4. pohanginapete21 December 2009 at 11:23

    Tim, you'd be surprised. Before most wildlife photographers switched to digital, Velvia was hugely popular despite its low ISO rating.

    Thanks for writing the post I've used as the link, too — much better than the misleading Wikipedia entry.

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Constructive criticism is welcomed (I particularly appreciate thoughts on what you like and don't like), but please keep it courteous.