I have been monitoring Photoforum for many years and have always
consistently found your photos to be among the best and most
enjoyable. Your current submission was excellent.
J Guerra
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03:33 PM 2/4/2012, Cap'n Jimmy wrote:
At 8:09 AM -0500 2/4/12, John Palcewski wrote:
Jim Snarski - Flying Colors Numerous things about this turn me off.
wow, I haven't been this excoriated for an image of mine in a
while...let's see what I can learn from this...
One is the busy background which is distracting.
hmmm...nature photographers seldom have any control over the
background of their images...I guess I could hang a big dropcloth
behind the birdbath but then I wouldn't get to see the Woodpeckers
and the Nuthatches that like to hang out on the oak tree I'd have
to hang the cloth from...alternatively, I guess I could mess with
gaussian blur in Photoshop...
Another is the wholly unnecessary caption. Bird lovers will
recognize the species,the rest of us will see two birds. Camera,
lens, the sliding glass
door, etc., add nothing.
I'd appologize for my life-long habit of wanting to learn the
names of the creatures I photograph but then that wouldn't be being
true to myself...as for those of you who just see two birds, that's
your truth and I respect that...as for camera and lens, that's
something I learned from the likes of Nature photographers John
Shaw, Heather Angel and Joe McDonald who captioned the photos in
their books with such information...I put the glass door in there
merely to underline my continuing amazement at how much Nature
there is in our own backyards (your mileage may vary)...as for
adding nothing, those bothered by captions shouldn't read them,
thus avoiding ruining their day...
And probably most annoying (to nitpicker meanyway) is the incorrect
use of "it's" instead of "its."
well, there you go...all this time I thought this list was
about photos, not grammar...so mea culpa, mea culpa...since I have
no spell checker, I guess I'm just going to have to be more
vigilant..I'm sure my 8th grade English teacher, Sister Bernadetta
of the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Aloysius school,
Chicago, Illinois is rolling over in her grave...most assuredly
ruined her day as well... *>)
so thanks for your input John...gave me lots to think about
Jim Snarski
Baja Oregon
