Bird in B&W

[abhishekdg]

Hi all,

Well wanted to try out a bird picture in B&W where I didn't have much colors to emphasize upon. Stumbled across this fellow near the muddy waters behind my house. Now the muddy waters and the bird was almost blended into each other and I had no option of going down . So couldn't get an eye level shot.. just wanna know what do u guys feel ?

 

[WesternGuy]

Nice bird picture - sharp with a well defined catchlight in the eye, but I am not really a fan of B&W bird pictures. I shoot birds myself for the colour. Maybe if this was an egret with a contrasting background, but there isn't really enough contrast here between the heron and the water. Nevertheless, it was a good try, just not somehting I am into. My 0.02¢ FWIW.
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WesternGuy

 

[abhishekdg]

Thanks for the C&C. Well even I don't like birds in B&W but here's not much contrast in colour as you can see :-

 

[WesternGuy]

I still like this one better than the B&W.
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WesternGuy

 

[Forkie]

I agree with WesterGuy on this. Birds are colourful and this should be one of the main focuses of bird photography. The only times I would consider black and white for birds is if the bird itself is not necessarily the main subject. For example, a crow sitting on a crumbled gravestone could become black and white to create atmosphere since it's not the crow, but the whole scene that is the main subject, or a bird could be silhouetted against a backlight.

Generally if it's a bird doing normal bird behaviour like this heron stalking the brackish water, colour is important.

 

[Jaemie]

I realize it's cliche, but herons and other tall birds generally present better in portrait orientation. Here, the bird's legs are cut off. And in #1, the B&W causes the bird to get lost against the water.

 

[Forkie]

I realize it's cliche, but herons and other tall birds generally present better in portrait orientation. Here, the bird's legs are cut off. And in #1, the B&W causes the bird to get lost against the water.

They can work in landscape sometimes!


Grey Heron by Forkie, on Flickr

 

[SCraig]

They can work in landscape sometimes!

Yes, they can. BTW, to the OP I also much prefer the color version.

 

[Joel_W]

I'm much prefer birds in color rather then B&W. And as Jaemie said, with your choice of picture orientation, the legs have been cut off in a most unflattering way.