Less is more 3.0

This is my third article about ‘less is more’ it surely won’t be the last! (see link to second and first article). ‘Less is more’ has become really my favorite thing. I'm even considering selling my 500-mm-telephoto lens as  it’s lying around in my basement uselessly (that being said, I keep using it regularly).

What does ‘less is more’ mean again? A ‘less is more’ picture should be taken with a few millimetres, using a wide angle lens. A lot of attention should be paid to the vicinity, so there is less focus on the bird itself. The bird should be quite small in the frame of the picture. This is one way of ‘less is more’.

There is another way of ‘less is more’: a picture, taken by a telephoto lens, with a small but recognizable bird. Again a lot of attention has been paid to the vicinity, but the focus is also on the bird itself.

Zwarte kraai 16 T6A0715
Wide angle shot. Maybe you thought that this carrion crow was Photoshopped? No, no, this is an original photo. It cost me an hour, but the crow finally flew away from it’s nest.

Wilde zwaan 16 T6A9671
Wide angle shot. Waterfowl in a city pond: Whooper Swans and a drake eider. Only possible in Iceland!

Wilde zwaan 16 T6A9055
Wide angle shot. Whooper Swans and their surroundings.

Kleine mantelmeeuw 16 T6A8808
Wide angle shot. The skyline of Rotterdam with a very small Lesser Black-backed Gull. Maybe it’s too small?

Geelgors 16 R9A5478
'Less is more’, but made with a telephoto lens. There is a good match between the yellow colour of the Yellowhammer and the moss.

Grote kruisbek 16 R9A5249
A ‘small’ Parrot Crossbill. Telephoto lens shot.

Bonte kraai 16 T6A8563

Wide angle shot. Hooded Crow in Hoek van Holland. The bird and the location are recognizable in the frame of the picture.

Roodkeelnachtegaal 16 R9A0906
Wide angle shot. It’s hard to make a different picture of a much photographed popular bird. This is an attempt to do so…

Klapekster 16 T6A8400
Wide angle shot. A Great Grey Shrike in his natural vicinity.

Bruine pelikaan 15 R9A0890
Wide angle shot. What a beautiful lady! Hey, I mean that Brown Pelican!

Suikerdiefje 15 R9A0754
Wide angle shot. Three drunkards at a bar.

Rottemeren 15 T6A7934
Wide angle shot. A road sign, a couple of geese and an impending rainstorm.

Grote burgemeester 15 T6A7029
Wide angle shot. A Glaucus Gull at the place where he actually belongs: the pack ice (Barrow, Alaska).

Sneeuwuil 15 R9A3001
Dead and life (in that order), Alaska.

Parelduiker 15 T6A6567

Wide angle shot. Pacific diver amidst the ice.

Rosse franjepoot 15 T6A6546
Wide angle shot. Two birdphotographers and three tame Red Phalaropes.

Grauwe franjepoot 15 T6A6522
Wide angle shot. Always difficult when a bird is too close… 

Rosse franjepoot 15 T6A5382
Wide angle shot. A Red Phalarope: a tame lady. The bird could have been in a larger dimension in the frame, couldn‘t it?

Kleine bonte specht 15 R9A5508
Wide angle shot. What is the true size of the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker? That small, according to these pictures.

Kleine bonte specht 15 R9A5458


Grauwe gans 15 R9A0563
Telephoto lens shot. These greylag geese are living in discord. It would be nicer if they looked each other in the eye…  right?

Grauwe gans 15 R9A0166
Not an original ‘less is more’ (the vicinity is hardly in the frame of the picture). But it also isn’t an average picture. Telephoto lens shot.