Over the years, I’ve received some criticism on my photography, and I think that’s a good thing. I’ve appreciated all of it, because on the whole it has made me a better photographer. After all, I have so many blind spots where I just don’t see problems. But there is one interesting piece of criticism that I’ve gotten many times, which was also part of a comment in one of my recent articles: Jason, your birds aren’t doing anything interesting! What do I think about that?
Showing Bird Behaviour
In many articles on Photography Life, we’ve written about how incorporating behavior and even humor in wildlife photography is a good thing. It adds interest to a photo and makes it more attractive and entertaining. Libor wrote something very nice about that recently.
I absolutely agree with that! Animal behaviour is very interesting and I love watching it myself. When animals due “cute” things it’s also touching and makes for especially attractive photos.
Actually, this reminds me of a discussion the Photography Life team recently did for our first online workshop, and one of the themes that came up was the difference between portrait (of people) photography and wildlife. In particular, we are so attuned to people’s facial expressions and eyes that even ordinary portraits have a lot of expressive power. Meanwhile, with wildlife, there is often more emphasis on their action – we don’t naturally have the same ability to understand subtle changes in their expressions and body language.
And of course, bird photography in particular can have a lot of action, especially with flight, which has a special allure and symbolism in our culture. Still, in a lot of my photos, my birds aren’t “doing anything,” and I’ve received some criticism about it.
But the truth is, for me, a bird sitting on a branch is already doing something interesting. Birds are usually moving around and doing things, so when they take time to sit and perch in an open and somewhat vulnerable position close to me, it’s actually rather exceptional. And when a bird is clearly at ease and close to me, it’s a rare moment. For me, it represents one of the pinnacles of birding. That’s why I value such photos, and I especially enjoy the still and more peaceful perched photos of others, too.
I also prefer not to present birds in especially flashy ways. That’s not to say that I don’t enjoy flashy photographs of birds from others, because I do, and I admire photographers who make them. But a more flashy or immediately entertaining style of photography just doesn’t represent my personality. I think the internet these days has created a culture where visual novelty is valued. It attracts immediate attention, but it just doesn’t feel right to me, and I am not much interested in becoming a famous photographer.
I also realize that there’s another conundrum. Behavioral shots – such as parents feeding baby birds or flight shots – are much more appealing to the typical viewer, and I don’t deny that such shots are fun and attractive. Again, I like such shots myself and I have nothing against them.
But for personal reasons, I also resist focusing too much on this type of photo. Such shots for me represent the phenomenon that nature is something “distant” from ourselves (and made more distant with each passing day). Sometimes the more behavioral photos push an animal into the abstract realm of being more about entertainment than just being.
Actually, a lot of the time, when birds start doing the typically “interesting” things, I often put down my camera and prefer to watch them with my eyes.
Closing Remarks
I don’t mean to say that I never shoot action or bird behavior. I like to do so when the moment is right, but my personality is simply more consistent with a gentle style of still birds.
Although action and behavior shots represent the struggle and the hidden lives of birds, and I certainly encourage others to capture such things, still portraits represent and highlight the best part about these beautiful animals to me: that they simply exist. In other words, for me, birds don’t have to do anything, because their just being there is already enough.