What’s Up?
I went down to the lake for a bit this morning — Thursday 25 JUNE 2020. I created exactly one dozen images of the surviving Mother’s Day crane colt. All 12 images — made at 1200mm — were super-sharp and featured perfect exposures. Working with RawDigger has made it relatively easy to expose to the right to the max, thus reducing noise.
Those who take the time to follow the BPN links to today’s four featured image and read the threads, will learn a ton. Aside from the great photography and the overwhelmingly excellent critiques, folks can read between the lines to learn even more. There are some folks on BPN who feel that if they do not offer at least one negative or one suggestion for improvement that they are not providing a good critique. When I come across such comments, either on my images or the images of others, I will speak up and push back …
If you are not too busy, please leave a comment and let us know which of these four excellent images is your personal favorite and why you made your choice.
As you enjoy today’s post, don’t forget that good photograpers make good images!
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This image was created by BPN Avian Super-Moderator Dan Cadieux. He used the handheld Canon 500mm f/4L IS II lens with the 1.4X TC III and the EOS 7D Mark II. ISO 1600: 1/800 sec. at f5/6. Image courtesy of and copyright 2020: Dan Cadieux. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version. Black and White Warbler |
Daniel Cadiuex
That Dan is a phenomenal photographer goes without question. A search for his name in the little white search box will turn up multiple blog posts featuring Dan and his work. Dan joined BPN on 1 JAN 2008 and has done 24,547 posts. Those include his started threads and his excellent critiques of others’ images. You can see more of Dan’s nature photography on his website here.
Learn more about the creations of this image and see what others thought about it in his Black-and-white Nuthatch…uhmm, I Mean Warbler! thread here.
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This image was created by BPN Member Will Dickson. He used the handheld Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO II lens with the 1.4X TC III and the EOS-1DX Mark II. ISO 640: 1/3200 sec. at f/7.1. Image courtesy of and copyright 2020: William Dickson. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version. Lesser Black-backed Gull |
William Dickson
Will Dickson has been a BPN member since 12 DEC 2013 and has amassed 6,207 posts. Will lives in Scotland and created this image from his balcony! Since I love gulls and I love top shots I fell in love with this image instantly. You can see what others thought about this image in Will’s post here.
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This image was created by BPN Limited Member Volkan Akgul. He used the handheld Canon 500mm f/4L IS lens with the EOS-1DX Mark II. ISO 800: 1/2500 sec. at f/5. Image courtesy of and copyright 2020: Volkan Akgul. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version. swift (sp.?) |
Volkan Akgul
Volkan Akgul of Turkey has been an active participant on BPN since he signed on as a limited member on 9 APRIL 2020. He has posted some very fine images and learned a lot despite the language barrier — his native tongue is Turkish. There is lots to learn by visiting the thread for this image here.
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This image was created by BPN Avian Moderator Gail Bisson. She used the Canon 600mm f/4L IS III lens with the 1.4X TC III and the EOS-1D X. ISO 1600: 1/2O00 sec. at f/8. Image courtesy of and copyright 2020: Gail Bisson. Snowy Owl |
Gail Bisson
BPN Avian Moderator Gail Bisson of Nova Scotia first posted in the forum on 5 JUNE 2011. Her stunning images along with her thoughtful 11,991 posts led to her becoming an Avian mod this spring. Gail attended a Southwest Florida IPT about a zillion years ago. You can see what I and other BPN folks had to say about her Frosty Morning Snowy Owl image in Gail’s post here.
Thank you for the kind words Artie. Between my local Black-and-white Warbler and Gail’s amazing Snowy Owl also photographed up here there is a lot of love for Ottawa wildlife 🙂
For anyone wanting a fun way of learning and improving their bird photography skills, BPN is such a way and well worth looking into!
Four superb images make this a difficult choice. I’m drawn to image #2, the gull. The horse shoe wing position and the fanned tail is a beautiful, active pose. I love the contrast as well with the dark blue background.
#4 for me. When I first looked at it I said “wow”…the bright tones hit you right in then face. My eye is scanning then image, focusing on the owl, its eyes, the fence, the snow, the hints of blue in the BG…and then finally coming back to the Owl with its somewhat subdued details, making my eyes focus even more on it. The other images are nice, but being sort of standard compositions don’t have, for me, the wow factor.
NUMBER ONE FOR ME,. IT SEEM TO JUMP RIGHT OUT ALSO LIKE THE BACKGROUND
I love Black-and-White Warblers and Image #1 is certainly a good image but it is just hard to compete with Image #4. The Snowy Owl is my favorite of these four images.
The snowy owl for me. Gail got the snow perfect, no blue or gray color cast. The fence row with the woven wire falling down is iconic and the owl grazing straight out at you is just perfect!
The owl image is my favorite because it includes such a story-telling environment — the post, the snow and the fence.
I think the first image is the best! I like it a lot. Well exposed and great composition.
Image #1, I love being in the forest/woods, and this image makes me feel like I am there. The comfortable and relaxing colors of the tree and background contrast nicely with this black and white bird.
Image #2, I have always loved watching the gulls flying near water. The pose of the wings and tail give a beautiful perspective of the gull in flight that I don’t get to see very often.
Image #3, I have a colony of Purple Martins and I am hoping to make some good images of them, and this image gives me some inspiration. The head level and wings vertical also makes me think of yoga, flying yoga, how about that.
Image #4, I feel like I am there crunching through the snow. I love the winter wilderness as long as I can keep myself warm 🙂 Such a gorgeous image.
Pick one? Oh My! I have to pick them all!
No. 1 for me. The composition, background colors and the color of the bird did it for me. I know how hard it is to get a warbler to sit still long enough for a photo. A very, very close second is the Snowy Owl. I love the composition and subject matter and would give this image a co-favorite label. I would not hesitate making a large print of either image.