Disappearing Magpie

Love the minimalist look and feel of this image with the magpie disappearing over the sand dune. Should I follow?

I convert to B/W to remove all colour to simplify this image even more. Sometimes less is more impactful - just the sand dune, the sky and a disappearing magpie.

SETTINGS 1/1250 sec shutter speed on a 600mm lens (150-600mm) with aperture and ISO in auto. Animal autofocus using tracking mode.

STORY BEHIND THIS IMAGE:

Continuing on from my previous tale of the Wild Dingo Siblings, I found myself once again amidst those alluring sand dunes, seeking further encounters with the wild dingo pack I know so well.

It was during this quest that a single Magpie caught my eye, strolling leisurely across a nearby sand dune. Seemed to me like it was on a mission to scrounge up some food and heading in the same direction as me - almost like a peculiar mimicry. Whenever I paused, the magpie would halt as well. And the moment I resumed my stride, it would follow suit. It was as if I had stumbled onto the set of a TV sitcom waiting for the chorus of canned laughter to punctuate our synchronised movements.

Now, let me tell you, its behavior struck me as rather strange. You see, typically, if I happened to be wandering these sand dunes, a kite or an eagle would swoop down from the heavens, snatch something off the sand, and soar back into the sky. But this magpie seemed to relish my company.

Here's an intriguing tidbit: Magpies tend to walk as apposed to other birds that hop along the ground. These feathered creatures possess remarkable intelligence, capable of recognising up to a hundred distinct individuals. But be forewarned, my friends, because during nesting season, they can turn quite aggressive and often swoop down upon unsuspecting humans, particularly those of us who dare to walk or bike in the vicinity of a nest. I know all about this behaviour 😉 

I stopped walking and with utmost care, aimed my trusty long wildlife lens (150mm-600mm) at this fascinating magpie, capturing a handful of snapshots. However, as fate would have it, the magpie grew weary of our mirrored dance, abruptly veering in the opposite direction, descending down the far side of the sand dune.

And that was the precise moment I captured my shot—the one that resonates the most within me. In this particular image, the magpie half vanishes beyond the dune's crest, evoking a sense of power and allure that simply captivates the soul, if I do say so myself.

What did I do in post? Once I had downloaded the images and chosen the best capture, I opened it in Topaz Photo AI to make sure I removed the noise in the sky and added some sharpening.

I then moved back to Lightroom and cropped off part of the image to give the top of the sand dune more of a diagonal line - giving this image a sense of movement almost like the Magpie is rolling down the hill.

I then converted it to B/W because right now my BootCamp Challenge is all about Black and White photography. Each month I create a masterclass and challenge for my photo community to teach and inspire photographers so that they go out and take action, capture their image and then post it inside Photo BootCamp Academy and get helpful feedback from me and other members.

The last task was to work on the Magpies eye using the masking tool. Just a slight increase in the shadows and whites makes it eye POP a little more.

BIG LESSON: Less is more (impactful) when it comes to composition. I teach this in my Mastering Composition course and I’ve also put together a Composition Recipe Card about SIMPLIFY. ”An image with fewer visual elements can have much more impact and pop than a busy image with lots of elements. It is much easier to define a point of interest when you have fewer elements.”

Stay inspired.

Brent

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