Bob Adler wrote: > I'm a bit confused by one think you're suggesting. You say that > frontal lighting would be good, but then so would shooting from > the shadow side. Both would lend very different images, especially > since I wasn't using any fill flash. From what I saw, shooting > from the shadow side removed any natural "twinkle" in their eyes, > which I thought made the images. Am I missing something in your suggestion? I didn't explain myself well. You are correct, frontal lighting and shadow-side lighting will produce very different results, either of which is preferable tot he highly directional side ligthing. IMHO the eye twinkle is nice but not essential. The idea behind the twinkle is to provide a point of high contrast were the viewer's attention is drawn. In the case of the twinkle the high contrast is one of tonal values, but it cuold just as well have been one of color or texture, depending on the species. But you do want the viewer's attention to be drawn to the eye, however it's done (and for this reason the eye must be in focus!) Here are a few examples where something other than the twinkle is used: http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/strigidae/eeow02.jpg http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/ardeidae/bnhe00.jpg http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/ardeidae/greg03.jpg http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/falconidae/merl03.jpg http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/turdidae/mobl00.jpg One thing you'll notice is that the backgrounds in these photos are bland or non-existant; they're not competing with the bird for attention (why I like 'good bokeh' lenses). I'd rather have a bit of something in the background to suggest habitat but never so much that it competes with the bird: http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/phasianidae/sogr02.jpg I'll take a bland background before an excessively cluttered one. Also in these pictures you can see that there's some reflections in the eyes, just not as pronounced as the twinkle from direct light. > Your input will probably entice me to go back sooner rather than later! Good! I'm looking forward to seeing your results. Doug Herr Birdman of Sacramento http://www.wildlightphoto.com -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web.com - Microsoft® Exchange solutions from a leading provider - http://link.mail2web.com/Business/Exchange ========================================================To Unsubscribe: Send email to leica-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. The acknowledgment that you then receive MUST be replied to per instructions. You may also log in to the Web interface to unsubscribe.