Composition???

[pressld2]

I think the rule of thirds works well in a lot of images but prefer to think of it as a guideline rather than a rule. I will ignore it in three different circumstances:

1. When the subject fills the frame (although I may still consider the rule of thirds when thinking about where to place parts of the subject such as the eyes)
2. When the subject is looking directly at the camera. I think that strong eye contact has more impact when it's centred. Fudgey, your jay is looking left and right rather than at the camera. If it had been an owl...
3. When I feel like it! Some images just work even without the rule of thirds or any of the other "rules" of composition. The trick is to recognise them when looking through the viewfinder.

Dave P.

[JeffH]

Originally Posted by pressld2

..... Fudgey, your jay is looking left and right rather than at the camera. If it had been an owl.......Dave P.

I hope you don't mind me saying so Dave but I'm not sure that's right.

Many birds with eyes positioned on the sides of their heads have bifoveal vision and can look straight ahead or side to side and they can switch between the two - see here -

COGSCIdotNL // A bit about birds looking sideways

In the case of Fudgey's Jay, given the bird's positioning my guess would be that it's looking forward

Jeff
(Schedule 1 Licence holder for Kingfishers, Barn Owls and avocets)

[pressld2]

Originally Posted by JeffH

I hope you don't mind me saying so Dave but I'm not sure that's right.

Don't mind in the least Jeff - it's always great to learn new things! Very interesting and now I know that birds may be better multi-taskers than even my wife!

Composition wise, it doesn't look like the bird is looking at the camera and therefore we don't get the same sense of strong eye contact as we would with a bird of prey that has forward facing eyes.

Dave P.

[FUDGEY]

Thanks to every one for their thoughts. I do like constructive criticism as I an still fairly new to this game. Food for thought that is what I like