Clipping the Virtual Feet, a Very Common Error. But ...

What’s Up?

I went down to the lake late yesterday afternoon without much success, though I did see a calling Barred Owl in a gorgeous tree with lots of hanging moss. The bird was sitting on an open perch. I would have set up the 600 with the 2X but for a single vine that hung right in front of the owl’s face …

Today is Tuesday 16 November 2021. It is 7:28am and I am sitting in my SUV working on today’s blog post. I am right on sun angle with the most recent road-kill cafe: a defrosted (previously road-killed) opossum carcass and a pile of smoked salmon skins. The sun came over the big cloud on the eastern horizon about ten minutes ago but so far there has not been any action other than a few Fish Crows flying around. It is dead clear now with a nice breeze from the Northeast so conditions are pretty good. The 200-600 is on the passenger seat and the bare 600 f/4 is on the tripod down by the edge of the canal so that if the vultures come in, I will be right at grass level. Aside from both species of vultures both Crested Caracara and Bald Eagle are potential diners. Time will tell. Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day. This blog post took more than two hours to prepare.

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This Just In …

It is not 8:43am and I am ready to hit Publish on today’s post. Not a single bird flew by my road kill cafe, even for a sniff. I am going to shovel the opossum and the fish skins into a small cooler and let them ripen for another day. Then I will try again tomorrow.

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This image was created on 7 June 2021 by BAA-friend, IPT veteran, and a1 Group member David Pugsley. Working from a very low perspective, he used the Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS Lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter(at 840mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ISO 2500. Exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Wheel: 1/1600 sec. at f/10 (stopped down 1/3 stop) Manual mode. AWB at 9:24am on what looked like a cloudy-bright morning. Image courtesy of and Copyright 2021: David Pugsley Image #1: Marbled Godwit scratching

Clipping the Virtual Feet

While doing the research for this blog post, I came across David’s BPN Scratch That Itch post here. Most everyone who commented felt that the image was too bright and that bird needed more room all around, especially in front of the bird and on the bottom frame edge where David had not left room for the virtual feet, the feet as if we could see them through the water. Scroll down to see how David improved his image with the repost in Pane #11 and to learn more about clipping virtual feet …

Searching for the term “virtual feet” on BPN, turned up exactly 500 links! Most were in the Avian Forum with a few in Wildlife. The first references were to posts from 2009 by Moderator Randy Stout and yours truly. Like me, David Pugsley learns something new with every image he posts. BPN is truly a great place to learn to improve your skills for only $40.00 a year. And we offer a three month free trial.

Image courtesy of and Copyright 2021: David Pugsley Image #1: Marbled Godwit scratching

A Big Improvement

With more room at the bottom of the frame for the virtual feet, and with the brightness pulled down nicely, David’s repost was a big improvement. David had room all around in the original capture; his error was simply in cropping too tightly. That is another very common error. This from a recent e-mail to De Soto IPT participant Pete Myers:

As for not liking tight crops at all, for me, the bird needs room in the frame, room to move, room to see, room to exist. At this point leaving room for an editor’s type no longer plays into the equation. But — for artistic reasons — I will often pick a looser original over a tighter one. with love, artie

In any case, I (crudely) added the virtual feet to give folks a better understanding of the concept. That brings us to …

I created this image on 4 November at Circle B Bar Preserve in Lakeland, FL. While standing, I used the Levered-clamp Flexshooter Pro/Induro GIT 304L tripod-mounted Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 467mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ISO 1000. Exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial: 1/320 sec. at f/6.3 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the brightness of the raw file was perfect. AWB at 3:39pm on a cloudy afternoon. Tracking: upper center Zone AF-C Bird/Eye Detection AF was active at the moment exposure and worked perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy the hi-res version. Image #2: Anhinga, female in Pond (or Bald) Cypress

Clipping the Virtual Tail

The discussion above brings us back to the Circle B Bar Reserve Anhingas & Bald Cypress Trees. Sony 200-600 G Lens Plate/Low Foot Options. And Why! blog post here where I wrote:

#2: Which basic compositional rule did I break when I created the second and the fourth images?

Over the course of four days several folks took a shot at my question, but nobody had a clue until BPN Super-moderator Daniel Cadieux posted this comment to a more recent blog post:

Hey artie, Yes, you clipped the virtual tail, the part of the tail that extends beyond the lower frame-edge had it been visible. I just checked the BPN thread and saw that a member there got it right. There is lots of learning on BPN for everyone 😉

But!

With both images 2 and 4, I was aware that I was clipping the virtual tail. I shot slightly wider versions but far preferred the somewhat tighter views with the clipped (not entirely virtual) tail.

When I posted Image #2 here on BPN, long-time member Jim Crosswell commented on the problem right off the bat. An interesting discussion with another long time member Andreas Liebman followed:

Originally Posted by Andreas Liedmann:

Hi Arthur …. who cares about those rules , and more important who is thinking about him/herself to dictate rules for others ????

All rules are more or less killing creativity … well IMHO .

I think it is just a matter of individual taste …. but if anyone wants wants to follow rules, go for it .

So …. I cannot see any form of violation, using your term.

My response:

Thanks, Andreas. I agree that rules stifle creativity. I have never been one to blindly follow the “rules,” photographically or otherwise. My photography is often guided by a series of artistic principles that I believe in. Jim, in Pane #6, hit upon what I was looking for, the fact that I clipped the virtual tail (partially obscured by the vegetation). I was aware of that when I pressed the shutter button, and wound up liking it a lot better than the slightly wider shot.

And I never suggest that folks should follow any photographic rules (other than “stay on the path,” when that is the rule) 🙂

with love, artie

Typos

In all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.