Bringing home breakfast
I know this osprey quite well. This osprey has made his nest with his mate in the same spot in a very large county park in St. Petersburg, FL adjacent to a parking lot where I often park when I do a training session on my bike. The regulars call him “Fleck” due to a fleck at the 7 o’clock position of his right eye. I often photograph him and on this day, I was photographing an owls nest about a mile away and stopped by to see if their was any action at the osprey nest. I found him sitting on a power line with a fish and knowing that he is uncomfortable around people and other birds when he has caught a fish, I readied my camera for action. He did not disappoint and took off towards his adjacent nest and I started firing my camera. I filmed a complete sequence in which the bird landed on the nest and fed the fish to his waiting mate which the locals have named Jewel. When I got home and was uploading my images, I almost fell off my chair when I saw that I had made this amazing capture of the bird with his wings in the so-called angel wing position, making direct eye contact t with me and clutching a fish in one talon - a one in a million capture!!
The osprey, also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than 60 cm in length and 180 cm across the wings. It is brown on the upperparts and predominantly greyish on the head and underparts.
comments (30)
http://www.viewbug.com/photo/13238571 Posted 10 years ago
In regards to what you had to say, by the nature of this site, I would think that common courtesy would dictate that if you don't have anything positive to say about someone's work, then shut your pie-hole, in that if I wanted advice, it would not be from a medical photographer - it would be from a real photographer. I think we ought to drop this, in that obviously there is no way to get through to someone with your extraordinary talent and taste in photographic art. BTW, the photo that you dislike so much hangs in very large size printed on canvas in my living room and everyone that comes over stops to admire it. It will also be touring Greece this year, but what they hell do they know - they should have consulted with you obviously. I'm out of here! Posted 10 years ago
Regarding courtesy, in this community it is OK to constructively criticize photography. ideally, that is done in a helpful and friendly way. So no, people do not have to shut up unless they have only positive things to say. They can express criticism. It is not the main goal of the site, but they can. And I hope they express this criticism constructively, and in a helpful way.
Sometimes it is not friendly, or perhaps not perceived as friendly. I rarely see that happening here, but it may happen. In such cases, my personal advise is to have a thick skin, as a photographer. Agree to disagree, and move on. Also realize that a negative comment on a photo not necessarily is an attack on you as a photographer, or the skill that you have. As soon as we get that personal, we stop learning. We're criticizing persons then, not photos.
From what I sense in this situation, I see that you have an outspoken photography style, or better said, post processing style. A style that people either love or hate. This is true for almost anybody doing explicit HDR, in any community. Regardless, I see and believe that people do enjoy your photography and the wildlife moments you capture, it's just the post processing that is a little controversial. Rationally, a lot of people, also in this community, like your photography in a general way, yet a few dislike the way it is post processed. I don't see much wrong with that situation.
Bottom line, it should be OK to agree to disagree in a friendly manner.
Posted 10 years ago
1) This is the second person with an attitude like this I have encountered in my very short stay here.
2) This particular photo has accomplished the following since being shot 9+ months ago:
1st Place 2014 Annual Popular Photography/NYIT Photo Contest
Published Popular Photography – December 2014
Jury Selection 2014 annual Art4Apes show – Miami Beach, FL
Jury Selection 2014 Insight For Healing Hearts
Displayed Cumberland Gallery, Nashville, TN – Sold for $250
10 first place finishes in photo competitions – 2014
Jury selected finalist – Audubon Society of Greater Denver 2014 photo contest
The photo has caused a stir on Gurushots, I Shot It, and won numerous awards on the Viewbug site.
It also happens to be my favorite photo of all time and I started shooting in the late 1940s at the age of 9! So of all photos, this is the last one I have any interest in hearing the negative opinion of some critic whose work, BTW, is anything but sterling - especially considering he is an alleged professional photographer.
Bottom line: I need a break from this site, which I WAS greatly enjoying!
Posted 10 years ago
And this is where we disagree. To me, common courtesy also includes constructive and helpful criticism. The fact you that you keep listing your accomplishments means to me that you're taking things very personal. Nobody is criticizing you as a person or as a photographer, it's just 2 people that said something about 2 particular photos in which you made particular post processing choices. It's not the end of the world, it's not "an attitude", it's just genuine feedback that some people don't like what you did to those photos. So what? I don't understand why it is so hard to just accept such feedback, to agree to disagree. If just this tiny amount of somewhat negative feedback already throws you of so far, I think you will struggle in many photo communities.
And again, the style you sometimes use is entirely yours, but composition changes and heavy HDR invites criticism. It comes with the style. People love it or hate it. It comes with the choice, thus getting remarks on it is to be expected. Posted 10 years ago
http://www.pixoto.com/challenges/best-2014
That is my point! Do I give a whit about the criticism of a photo that is highly acclaimed and has just won it's 10th first place in large competitions? NO!!!!!!! BTW, I do just fine in the other photo communities in which I take part. I have just completed a year on ViewBug where I have won 11853 awards including 4 granted by the management. I have yet to have a negative comment and I have uploaded 1590 photos! Here, I wind up facing two "expert" critics in my first couple of days on the site!
http://www.viewbug.com/member/sandyscott_0995#/sandyscott_0995/awards?filter=vbawards Posted 10 years ago, modified 10 years ago
That's not what it really was. You had feedback on 2 photos, both of which had their backgrounds replaced, with some additional HDR-like effects. 2 people did not like it....so what?
Regardless of which community, I do not believe that this is the stance a photographer should take. I believe in having a thick skin, being open to criticism and learning from it. That could be just me though. If it is true as you say that so many people love it, and 2 people don't, what is the big deal? Why can't a simple "thanks for the feedback, but I disagree" be the response? Why do you have to be so shielded from any negative comments? It's not even in your own interest to have only people around you who compliment you.
Posted 10 years ago
You don't have to be rude with your "expert" critics words, you just show us now that you behave like a kid who wants to win everything or can't take constructed criticisms. I am glad you managed to win all those contests!! Congratulations! But you know what? that winnings list or whatever is just a bit too much. What are you expecting here? I will tell you my opinion. For me the site is the pinnacle between the pictures and the species discovery. It gives us the opportunity to do both: trying to show some of our best pictures, and learning about wildlife and species.
That is why I am really attached to a real view of what we take in picture, I accept post-processing but too is too much.
You want my expertise? well, here what I was thinking it was a bit too much.
On the pictures you can see that you didn't even controlled properly the sky post processing, we can still see some "bad coloring", and the contours of the pictures are also a bit hazardous no? Is it what you learnt in your NY Institute of Photography?
http://s8.postimg.org/jp5tu358l/24442_medium.jpg
http://s28.postimg.org/6slq5mcwd/24442_medium_2.jpg
http://www.pixoto.com/challenges/best-2014 Posted 10 years ago
And you love you so much to repeat again and again how fabulous you were.
Yet I was gentle with you, I even gave some details in image.
Never mind, like you said...do something else!
Cheers and happy new year. Posted 10 years ago, modified 10 years ago
- You're insulting another member who posts constructive criticism
- You only tolerate positive comments, and act aggressively at perfectly normal feedback
- Your repeated and extreme self promotion is embarrassing and far from the point of this community
As a result, you are disqualified from the contest, and also banned from JungleDragon alltogether, effective immediately. You may contact me privately if you want to further discuss the matter, or if you would like to take down your photos.
To be clear, it is not your photography but your behavior that got you banned. You are entitled to that behavior, but it simply does not fit here. Not even close.
I don't enjoy taking this measure at all, it's a real shame, but I see no other way. I wish you the best of luck in other communities. Posted 10 years ago, modified 10 years ago
Thanks for what you do here!
Let's move on! Posted 10 years ago