Out of the many thousands of Yellow Warbler photos I’ve taken this summer this one from yesterday morning will likely turn out to be my favorite. But the reason for that strong preference will require an explanation because it’s personal.
1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
Berries in my photos almost seem to be a theme for me recently and this one is no exception. Yesterday morning this male Yellow Warbler in the Wasatch Mountains perched in the perfect spot and gave me the perfect pose in an attractive setting. There are many little details I like about the photo but I like them for a somewhat different reason than you might expect so I’ll try to explain why the photo has special meaning for me. It’s all related to my strong aversion for “setup” images in nature photography that deliberately try to deceive the viewer.
In my opinion this image has many (though not all) of the hallmarks of a setup. The light on the bird is perfect, the setting is attractive, the background is clean and slightly graded, the warbler is placed perfectly in the elements of the setting and there are even colorful berries thrown in for good measure.
But the image wasn’t set up. There were no attractive perches cut and placed into the perfect spot with good light for the photographer, no artificial or specifically chosen backgrounds and no bait (bird seed in this case) or electronic calls were used to lure the bird in. I was just at the right place at the right time with a wild bird in a natural setting whose behavior I didn’t influence in any significant way. And I was prepared to take advantage of the situation. That gives me great satisfaction.
I was told some years ago on a public forum (Nature Photographers Network or NPN – a nature photography critique site) by a moderator that getting excellent setup photos of birds was just as difficult as getting them naturally. My response to that statement is an emphatic horse feathers! If excellent setup photos weren’t quicker and easier to get why would they do it? I sure hope he knows better now but he should have known better then.
Actually, this image has its “imperfections” too but I like most of them. For example, not all of the berries are in prime condition and the out of focus leaves and berries at bottom center of the image aren’t ideal but that speaks to me of nature.
Setup shots are pervasive on the web and elsewhere and virtually none of those photographers disclose their methods with the image so those types of photos leave me cold. But they’re nearly always easy to spot if you know what to look for.
Ron
Notes:
- I want to make it clear that the NPN moderator I referred to above wasn’t Keith Bauer. I always had great respect for Keith’s ethics and advice. I still do.
- If you get the feeling that I have strong opinions about setups in nature photography I’d plead guilty as charged. For various reasons (many of them self-serving) some photographers disagree with me and that’s fine but I won’t argue the point here.
- If you’d like to see in more detail how many bird photographers shoot setups you can watch this video clip.
- The same photographer sells videos online including one titled “Photoshop Trickery For Bird Photographers”. In that video he demonstrates how to artificially fake things like “swap out backgrounds, stitch different heads onto birds, create eye contact, create catchlights, repair clipped wings, remove leg bands, fix messed up feathers” and others (here’s the link). Those who assume that what you see in nature photographs is natural are assuming way too much. Many of these practices are commonly done in bird photography.
A really first-rate image Ron. Well done!
I’m glad to know you like it, Gary. Thank you.
A second posting for today…I looked at the video, part of it only…it actually made me sick! Then it made me angry…tricking birds with covered food ports? How low can one go. Now I’m wondering about some of the photos that I’ve seen in magazines…what extent do some go to for the shot and the money? I can’t believe that this man even has the audacity to make videos teaching how to do this!
You’d be aghast at how many publishers use images where these techniques were used, Kathy.
I visited the video link you provided…on baited set ups. I prefer using one of those sticky rodent traps that some soft-hearted wimps find unusually cruel, but I find very effective at trapping birds for photography…when you’re through photographing them it’s very hard to pry them loose so it’s best to just throw them, traps and all, away and get new ones for the next shoot..
Don’t give them any ideas, Patty…
This image of feathered sunshine explains why so many people DO resort to set-ups. I bet they do a cross-word with not only the dictionary but the answers open beside them, cloee the dictionary, put away the answers and proudly leave the finished puzzle out for others to admire.
Ha, you’re probably right, EC.
I admit to resorting to my Crossword Dictionary or getting a Sudoku hint on occasions, but at least I’m honest about it! 😉
Lovely!!! Bird, berries, colors, composition..It al, works!!!
Thanks, Patty.
Your “WISIWYG” philosophy is what draws me to your blog every day. I admire your skills, your honesty, your ethics, and your knack for being in the right place at the right time to put it all together into the spectacular images we get to see! Plus, you’re a really cool dude! 😀
Hope my students enjoy my teaching style as much as I enjoy yours. 🙂
“Hope my students enjoy my teaching style as much as I enjoy yours”
This old teacher really appreciates that comment, Marty. I’m sure your kids will love your style too.
We’ll find out on August 29th!
Beautiful stunning photo. I was naive about set-ups until I started following your blog. Yes, I knew about Photoshoped images and I hate them, they are so abundant now, but I was not aware of baiting and set ups. Since learning about them I have seen one case of baiting at Farmington Bay and one case of electronically calling birds at BRMBR.
Hope to get out this weekend, looks like the skies are clearer. Unless my daughter brings more rehab releases home, They take a lot of time and are stressful for me. Releases are good but it’s like throwing your child into a lake and saying “swim”. In 13+ years I have only had 2 unsuccessful releases but it only takes one to scare you for the event.
I can imagine what those releases are like for you, April. Good for you for doing what you do!
First things first! I “enlarged” this image on my iPad to eliminate text/borders and then held it up against the yellow of my sunroom walls — it would look PERFECT in here! And it is a perfect photo of this handsome warbler, especially because it shows the imperfect berries (and glorious colors) one finds in nature. It’s a day-brightener, to be sure! As for set-ups and manipulation of wildlife to get the “ideal” image — it’s not natural, is it, so how can it be called nature photography? It just turns me off. Thanks for standing your ground so we always know we’re seeing wild creatures acting naturally! (I’m thinking particularly of your treasure trove of young red-tails learning the ropes of life beyond the nest.)
“it’s not natural, is it, so how can it be called nature photography? It just turns me off”
That’s EXACTLY how I feel, Chris!
First, what a stunning photograph! I’m still impatiently awaiting our first of the fall migrating Yellow Warblers to appear. They are among the first migrants to show up in our area and we should catch a glimpse of bright yellow flashes in the tree tops any day now.
Second, it’s amazing that when a photographer enjoys the results of her or his labor for personal reasons, that “specialness” shows in the image for others as well, without the viewer even knowing why.
Third. Okay, I admit it. I’m old. I’ve experienced much throughout my lifetime. However, I am still naïve about many things. Apparently, bird/wildlife photography is one of them. It just simply wouldn’t occur to me to go through the “set up” baloney some “photographers” do to produce what they consider an acceptably “artistic” image. For the same amount of planning and effort, these MORONS could photograph the same subjects naturally. How do people like this sleep at night???
I recently saw some stunning photos of a Snail Kite and then read the detailed account of how the photos were made by baiting the area around the blind with snails. All sanctioned by a national magazine. Maybe for science? I marveled at the images but once I read the account of how they were made I felt like I was going to be sick. (But it did make me feel better about my own Snail Kite images!)
Okay, enough preaching to the choir.
Ron, thank you for doing what you do and especially for doing it the WAY that you do it! Inspirational.
“However, I am still naïve about many things. Apparently, bird/wildlife photography is one of them.”
Don’t feel like the Lone Ranger, Wally – most “consumers” of wildlife photography are in the same boat. Unethical photographers are well aware of that fact which is why they almost never disclose the methods they use. If they did disclose many of their clients and folks who comment on their images wouldn’t be nearly so generous with their accolades about the photos.
Beautiful photo with Mother Nature’s setup. Keep up the great work. Your ethics can’t be questioned.
Thank you, Betty.
I did look at the “setup” video and it only makes one appreciate the integrity and effort you bring to your photography – and which brings dignity to both photographer and subject.
Thanks very much, Lyle. I loved your “dignity” statement.
This is a beautiful photo, and I’m glad that all your efforts have paid off with a “near-perfect” shot of a bird that is difficult to capture well. Personally, I don’t see imperfections. I look at your photos with an eye to enjoying them, not critiquing. It’s probably good that I don’t spend time looking at nature photos online, because I don’t know that I’d be able to tell which ones were set up. I also need to say that imperfect berries is what I’d expect to see in nature, since birds take bites out of them, and they often age in place.
“I also need to say that imperfect berries is what I’d expect to see in nature”
Exactly, Susan. To me setup perches almost look sterile.
Beautiful shot Ron! I agree with you. Thanks for sharing!
Charlotte
Thank you, Charlotte.
Excellent shot, you see imperfection here and there, I see phenomenal expertise in this image!
Well, you have hit again a major pet peeve/dislike/anger of mine, why I don’t enter contests, why I lack confidence in what I see presented by photographers (not all, but enough) UNLESS there is some documentation of how they took the shot. Besides being an excellent photographer YOU are an HONEST one, and that is why I love your blog! We seem to be in a country/world that accepts dishonesty/alternate facts more readily today, a very sad commentary. I certainly hope the younger generation has enough morale fiber left to recapture the honesty of yesteryear.
Thank you, Dick. If folks would only disclose their methods that would solve a lot of the problem, although not all of it.
Hey, Dick! Bragging, lying and cheating are “IN”… Get with it!!!
I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again Ron – the fact that you take natural photos is what attracted me to your site. Beautiful natural photo. Got a good laugh from your use of horse feathers instead of the oft used BS 🙂 I can still hear my grandmother using that term and she has been gone for over 50 years. I remember one year Arizona Highways best photo was one where the photographer and his assistant camped out overnight at a specific location, and then in the morning with everything perfectly set up they released a lizard from an ice chest and then as the temperature warmed the lizard turned into a series of brilliant colors. And this is supposed to be a nature photo?
Everett Sanborn, Prescott AZ
I appreciate your confidence in me, Everett.
I got that “horse feathers” phrase from my dad (born 1920). He used it often in appropriate situations.
I never heard either one of my parents EVER utter a singe swear word…or tell us not to…it was never even discussed…yet, I think I use every swear word ever invented and swear like your proverbial longshore man or truck driver is said to…what happened???
It truly is a beautiful photo. Near perfection in my eyes of nature as it is seen. To me I would not think ‘set-up photo’ with this perhaps because I have taken so many photos with birds in similar surroundings…dried-up berries, out of focus leaves or an odd branch here or there. That is nature. What bothers me is the better than perfect blue sky, the greener than greens, flower colors that are enhanced so much that they don’t look real, all of that stuff. But the response is ‘I don’t photo-shop’..well, perhaps not photoshop but maybe ‘light-room’, or ‘photos’ or one of the other programs out there. It’s a matter of honesty I guess. If it’s done, admit it. I only shoot jpeg…what you see is what I saw with cropping, some sharpening, and a bit of light manipulation. I admit to that but when I see a near duplicate of my photo with a totally computer manipulated one, well admit it…, don’t say ‘I don’t photo-shop’. We all do it to some extent…My two cents for what it’s worth. It’s a matter of honesty.
Kathy, I agree with you about oversaturation. IMO it’s the quickest way to ruin an otherwise nice nature photograph and it’s done WAY too often!
I also agree with your point about disclosure of your methods. At least that way there’s no deliberate deception involved.
If I hadn’t read the text in your post and didn’t know it was you who shot this photo, I would have assumed it was a setup. It’s too perfect!
And I love the different stages and colours of the berries, and the soft focus areas only help draw the eye to the super sharp warbler.
Perfect!
I loved your first two sentences, D – that was a big part of my point. Thank you.
Beautiful shot 🙂 – nature has her “flaws” if you will – just part of it! I’ve noticed that with instructions on macro photo’s in particular – the “perfect” – bull – nature is NOT perfect. 🙂 Off to Seattle for a few days……….
Thanks, Judy. Enjoy your trip. I hope you have some smoke-free and sunny days.
Great photo! Warblers still evade me, but at least I have thrushes and other birds to photograph in the meantime! And yes, I feel the same way about set-ups as well. I do also like the feather detail on the bird as well!
Thanks, Xavier. I wish I had your access to thrushes.