Which Yellow-headed Blackbird?

Last week I shared a Yellow-headed Blackbird I saw perched on a barbed wire fence in the Ft. Pierre National Grasslands in South Dakota. I modified the same shot three different ways and you weighed in on the ones you liked best. Read your reactions beneath each shot.

Version 1

Version 1 was preferred. by only a couple of people. The comment that really stuck out most to me was from Cathy B who used to live there. She thought it evoked the feeling of the grasslands with the barbed wire, shoots of grasses sticking up from the bottom and the big sky.

Version 2

Version 2 is cropped much closer and shows just some wisps of the grasses beneath the bird. Almost nobody preferred this shot.

Version 3

Version 3 is identical to Version 2 except I removed the wisps of grasses beneath the barbed wire. It was by far the most “liked” photo of the three. A clean shot of the bird with no distractions was cited time and time again as the way they enjoyed the bird the most.

So is Version 3 the best because it got the most votes? I suppose so if just a clean image of the bird is your preference. However I have to side with Cathy B because from one who lived there, Version 3 depicted the bird in the grasslands better. Doesn’t that help inform us about the bird’s habitat, not just an image of a bird? One lesson learned here is to know your audience when sharing a bird photograph and let the composition give a fuller picture of the bird and its habitat. It will speak to those that understand the area.

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