What kind of birds do you have in your neighborhood? I live in the suburbs of Washington D.C. in a townhouse community in Northern Virginia. There are quite a few trees and some green spaces, so I am able to find birds to photograph when I walk through the neighborhood, though the birds tend to be small and elusive.
This past weekend, I encountered a reasonably cooperative Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis) that remained perched in a tree in a fenced backyard as I desperately sought to compose the shot. I was hoping to have the sky as the background, because I was shooting upward, but the branches of the tree made it impossible to get that shot. I quickly realized that my only hope for an uncluttered background was to use the white siding of the townhouse as the backdrop. As I moved from side to side, I noticed that the blue shutters of the townhouse kept creeping into the frame and decided to incorporate them as an element of the image.
I really like the final result, a pleasing portrait of a little chickadee with a simple, almost minimalist composition.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Nice one! Buildings in the distance can create quite a nice background for a telephoto shot, sometimes even better than natural vegetation. It certainly works here.
I like knowing the background scoop. One would never know it is white siding back there.
I really enjoy all these pictures! I feel like I’m not looking very closely when I go out walking/hiking/biking, so I enjoy your ability to spot wildlife/birds. Love the photo, by the way.
Thanks. The more I focus on photography, the more I seem to see. My powers of observation have improved, especially when I remember to slow down.
The townhouse shutters didn’t even register at first. They were just part of the background blur. Now that I take another look, though, I’ve decided I really like that accent of blue in your photo! Fun to know; thank you for sharing your strategy.
It almost looks like a studio portrait. I have some blue jays nesting in a cedar in the front yard this year and yesterday a robin decided he wanted his picture taken, but chickadees always seem to be the friendliest birds when I’m in the woods. They don’t sit still for very long though!
I tried to be stealthy for this shot and was walking on grass as I approached, so I wasn’t making too much noise. It’s possible too that birds in a suburban setting are more used to having people around.