Watch Cholynn the female Bald Eagle hatch her second egg. Click here

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In photography a pretty common term is “rule of thirds”. But another compositional photography term is “rule of odds: Here is the definition of the “rule of odds”. I try to use it as much as possible but it is hard with moving birds. It takes time, patience and luck. Also important is the “rule of odds” also can be applied to groups of odd numbers as in a 3 different groups of birds or whatever. Be careful with the odds, I find 3 objects works well, anything else gets lost.

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Try to be objective about your photos. At first glance I liked the above photo but the more I looked the more flaws I saw. I saw the blurred foot especially. The blur drew my eye to the wrong spot. The twig in front of the Black-crowned Night-Heron was a distraction too. Trying to rationalize will only make it worst. It was a good try under difficult conditions to even get this particular shot. But it is not a wall hanger. Delete it and move on. Time will erase your feelings for this photo.

The post Falling in Love with your Photo first appeared on Jim Akers Photography.

The original interesting photo looked like this:

Sometimes just changing the photo slightly can make a difference. I do it often particularly with bird head shots.

The post Photo Within the Photo first appeared on Jim Akers Photography.

The number one element in obtaining a merit photo (80 or above in most cases) is impact. There are exceptions, BUT, don’t lose sight of impact. Usually a good impactful photo tells a story. Judges / people should not have to wonder what the photographer is trying to say through the photo.

The post IMPACT IS THE NAME OF THE GAME first appeared on Jim Akers Photography.

The post I Can’t Find Anything to Shoot first appeared on Jim Akers Photography.

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The post Action and Impact Help Tell a Story first appeared on Jim Akers Photography.

In this series of photos, I used the Plamp II by attaching it to a chair and the stem of milky weed.   It helps too when the wind is blowing and you attach the Plamp to the stem of a flower to give  it more sturdiness. Also, as I said before, you can use the Plamp just to move other vegetation to the side and out of the way of the shot without damaging any plants or living things. The video gave me the idea of using a small flash light which can come in handy too.

The post A nice little tool_Wimberley Plamp II first appeared on Jim Akers Photography.

The post Finding the Unusual first appeared on Jim Akers Photography.

Riding the Crest

Good Action and certainly tells the story. Surfers are magnificent athletes. A good site to use concerning surfing conditions is: www. surfline.com

Nesting Material

Tells the Story and has impact. This Osprey flew with this long piece of moss like material and landed not too far away from me. I was ready with my 500mm.

Morning Snack

Story and Impact- Sea Otters are really fun to watch.  They have really strong teeth. They seem to always be playing.

Munch Munch Munch

Story, Impact, Focus and Color- This is a Monarch larvae. I read that the Monarch butterfly will be extinct in 20 years.

Follow the Sun

In past blogs, I mentioned look behind you. I was walking with my back to this sunset because the tide was rising fast and I did not want to get caught without an exit. Every 100 feet or so I would turn  around and shoot, turn around and shoot. This was one of the many shots I got. I used a tripod and slowed the shutter down along with a Variable Neutral Density Filter. Simple but tells the story, has impact and is colorful.

The post Impact, story telling and color help make a better photo first appeared on Jim Akers Photography.