2015-11-08: Monochrome Monday

For anyone that hasn’t been in the presence of a hadeda, they sound kind of like the kid on the Simpson’s show that always says “HA HA”.  Honestly, if you get a large group of them, they can get a bit irritating after a time.  I think more than one ranger I’ve met has described them as the most annoying creature in the bush.

Now about this photo.  I flagged it quite some time ago to edit, and couldn’t figure out the reason why, other than I liked it.  But after staring at it for the last 20 minutes, I think the two things I like are the contrasts (the bright highlights and dark shadows and the flash of iridescent feathers against a flat sky) and that the shape of the bird is repeated in the shape of the branches (look to the branch directly below the tail, it has the shape of a head and beak).  The monochrome treatment highlights what I like about the image, whereas the colour version is pretty easy to overlook.

Sometimes I find it difficult to explain what draws me to one photo over another; I often find myself at a loss for words when someone is looking for a critique on an image.  I know very quickly whether I like an image or not; but the reason why isn’t always easy to put into words.

A hadeda ibis perched on some gnarly, dead branches. 1/100sec, f10, ISO400
A hadeda ibis perched on some dead branches; the late afternoon sun reflecting off of iridescent wings. 
1/100sec, f10, ISO400

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