Eyes Left or Right? (1 Viewer)

Jaff · May 19, 2011

Something of a two pronged query here. May seem a tad strange this but do side on images look better with the bird facing left or right or is there no difference and is it cheating too much to flip an image even if it looks better?

Take the examples, in my opinion both images look better with the birds facing left and if I were to post them that is how I would do it. If it can make a big difference in bringing out the full potential of a shot then surely it's justifiable.

The other part is if I post an image that was flipped is that something you're meant to declare, I mean it's not out and out cheating like making a composite or removing some major obstruction/distraction is it. So basically I'd like to also like to gauge some opinion on what is the kind of stuff that you should really own up to doing when you post an image.

Suggestions/thoughts?
Cheers. B

AJ

fugl · May 19, 2011

Left facing generally looks best to me also, perhaps because I’m left-handed (or perhaps not, I really don’t know what governs these preferences). As far as reversing right-left & “improving” the background are concerned, I don’t think these need “owning up to” as long as the bird itself is left untouched. An exception, of course, would be a photo published in an ecology magazine or some such place where the background’s important.

I’ll be interested to hear what others have to say on this subject.

Adam W · May 19, 2011

I asked a similar question on here once but about painting birds, i always paint them facing left but i think thats because i'm right handed and i find it very difficult to paint them facing the other way but that said you see plenty of paintings with the birds facing the other way and i'd assume most would be painted by right handers.

So i always find photo's better if the bird is facing left but thats quite possibly because i know i'd find it much easier to draw/paint that way rather than actually making a better photo.
I dont really know why but to me if the bird is facing right it seems to be looking out of the picture but when facing left it seems to be looking into the picture but maybe thats just me.

NoSpringChicken · May 19, 2011

I wonder if I could get away with this one?

Ron

fugl · May 19, 2011

NoSpringChicken said:
I wonder if I could get away with this one?

Well, perhaps not.

Ashley beolens · May 19, 2011

It is very odd as I always prefer birds facing right (I'm right handed) I wonder if there is a trend?

Paul Collins · May 19, 2011

I prefer the right ones. I wouldn't say it's a problem, but of course always be honest about the alterations that you have made.

Roy C · May 19, 2011

I put the same question up a few years ago and if I remember right there were a lot of definite preferences but they ended up about 50-50. No particular preference myself though.

Smudger01 · May 20, 2011

I also prefer them looking to the right. I'm no expert but from a compositional point of view I think it's because we read left to Right ??? Generally though if I take them looking left I leave them as they are.

John N · May 20, 2011

I'm just happy to get a decent photo and never gave it a thought until now, but thinking about it I prefer them facing right.

fugl · May 20, 2011

Looks like the "rights" are winning. Maybe it does have to do with handedness after all, since right-handers are more common than lefties. Has anyone voted "against" his handedness so far?

NoSpringChicken · May 20, 2011

I am right handed. I have just had a quick look at my gallery and I seem to have more shots of birds facing left. Of course, the real question now might be: 'Do birds prefer to perch facing left or right?'

Ron

Tord · May 20, 2011

Hi all

I recently followed a photo class trying to improve my skills and this topic was actually discussed.

It is more than a simple look left or right. Even though most natural objects have a L/R symmetry, we process visual information by starting in the top left corner and then moving diagonally towards the bottom right corner. We are not conscious about this and scan images this way nearly every time.

This can be taken advantage of by the photographer to compose images in ways that will be perceived in different ways (while composing the picture and to some extent in the digital lab).

Lines
In pictures there are two imaginay diagonal lines.

Lines from top-left to bottom right are percived more natural and will create "positive", pleasant and smooth emotions.
Lines from bottom-left to top-right are perceived less natural and will create "negative" tensions

Placement of subject

Subject in upper left corner creates a "negative" feeling of loneliness since this is the subject first we notice in the picture, and is followed by empty space.
Subject in bottom right creates a comforting feeling, after empty space comes the subject.
Subject in bottom left will be perceived as less significant since it is below the diagonal line
Subject in top right corner creates a feeling of being dominant since it is above the diagonal line

Then of course we have other composition rules that apply to cropping so that living objects e.g. birds look into the picture and not towards the frame.

Above could be exploited when composing pictures of birds.

/Tord

Jaff · May 20, 2011

Tord said:
Hi all

I recently followed a photo class trying to improve my skills and this topic was actually discussed.

It is more than a simple look left or right. Even though most natural objects have a L/R symmetry, we process visual information by starting in the top left corner and then moving diagonally towards the bottom right corner. We are not conscious about this and scan images this way nearly every time.

This can be taken advantage of by the photographer to compose images in ways that will be perceived in different ways (while composing the picture and to some extent in the digital lab).

Lines
In pictures there are two imaginay diagonal lines.

Lines from top-left to bottom right are percived more natural and will create "positive", pleasant and smooth emotions.

Lines from bottom-left to top-right are perceived less natural and will create "negative" tensions

Placement of subject

Subject in upper left corner creates a "negative" feeling of loneliness since this is the subject first we notice in the picture, and is followed by empty space.

Subject in bottom right creates a comforting feeling, after empty space comes the subject.

Subject in bottom left will be perceived as less significant since it is below the diagonal line

Subject in top right corner creates a feeling of being dominant since it is above the diagonal line

Then of course we have other composition rules that apply to cropping so that living objects e.g. birds look into the picture and not towards the frame.

Above could be exploited when composing pictures of birds.

/Tord

Wow fascinating stuff there. I've just been psycho-analysed without realising it!

There does seem to be a great amount of pers. pref. with this. As it seems many of you do have a preference would you then manipulate the image to suit that preference as I would or would you not bother seeing as how it's almost 6 of one and half a dozen of the other which way a bird faces.

Although as has been suggested by Tord I wonder if with my Tree Sparrow I prefer it facing left cos of the diagonal situation the bird creates running from top left to bottom right. I admit that with regards to my Dunlin I was less bothered and I wonder if it's because of this very reason. Oh crumbs I'm going to need to see a shrink after all this! :eek!: :king:

Oh and BTW I'm right-handed.

Tord · May 20, 2011

Hi again

I just realize that I forgot to provide feedback regarding the photos and trying to apply what I learned:
- Sparrow: looking left. The bird should be re-positioned by, if possible, restoring quite some of the green background that I guess has been cropped away and also restoring a little to the left. I took the liberty to attach a mockup outlining what I mean, apologies for manipulating your picture.
- Wader: tougher call. It depends on what other elements are present but cropped away in the original picture. Can you share the original?

John P · May 20, 2011

fugl said:
Looks like the "rights" are winning. Maybe it does have to do with handedness after all, since right-handers are more common than lefties. Has anyone voted "against" his handedness so far?

They have now; I'm mostly* a leftie and prefer my birds looking right.

*Left handed but right footed.:eek!:

tracker · May 21, 2011

John P said:
Left handed but right footed.:eek!:

Im right handed and left footed! B

Adam, there are rules involved with artistic presentation; some can be broken; some, when observed, make so much difference to a final image. In some cases, when theres a blatant ignoring of a certain rule/principle then that can give a sense of unease (which could be what the artist wants to communicate); in some cases, simply because the artist/photographer isnt aware of a principle.

Tords recap was very interesting; especially the part about entering an image from top left working down to bottom right.

Personal taste comes into most things, certainly within art, but its not a good enough excuse for completely ignoring some basics first. I see artistic expression as very similar to language expression; a grasp of sentence structure, learning a, b, c's etc goes a long way to then being able to develop and open up the language for personal expression, eg for writing poetry. Without a grasp of simple rules, such writing would not be possible; to me, art is the same. Then, whether writer or artist, poet or photographer, breaking the rules, at the right time, can be done for a required impact! :eek!:

Anyway, I know you like to break lots of rules! :king:

ps...theres some 'rules' for image editing too; even where theres 'personal taste'!

wildphoto · May 22, 2011

Adam, I'm not a poster on "threads" it's a little alien to me, but noticed this when looking at the classifieds.
I actually do a bit painting and drawing have done for many years, being right handed it is natural for me to sketch my subject as I view, looking to the left, e.g. drawing the contours of a face is easier, to someone who is left handed it may be the opposite. However, whichever orientation the original, a good tip is to look at the mirror image, if it looks right the wrong way round so to speak, then the composition is spot on.
No reason not to flip an image in photography, newspapers do it all the time to make it fit the copy, one drawback for me though, is I always remember which direction the light source was coming from, and that is also flipped it seems to make the image look wrong.

Jaff · May 22, 2011

Thanks everyone. Certainly some interesting input there for me to chew over. I don't routinely flip every image I take but sometimes when I'm trying to crop a shot I'm never happy with the composition and then I flip it and it'll take on a whole new perspective that meets my approval. Strange as that may seem given that everything is identical but just facing the other way.

Although for some reason I've completely 'flipped' and I now seem to think that my Tree Sparrow looks better facing right! That said this nearly identical one I put on yonks ago is a flipped image and still most definitely in my mind looks better that way http://www.birdforum.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/211537/ppuser/42340.
I suppose the only conclusion I can draw is it entirely depends on the image itself but I'd urge people to just try it with their own images while they are processing just to see if it makes a difference or not. You might be surprised.

Cheers all. :t:

PS not interested in a nice macro lens are you David?

Tiraya · May 29, 2011

I'd say the Dunlin looks better facing left. When its facing right it seems to look turn its turning away in my opinion. A strange illusion going on here.

To the contrary, I think the Tree Sparrow looks better facing right.

I personally don't pay much attention to the direction, but I can agree that some pictures look "better" flipped.

I had a bit of a dilemma with a bird I got recently. It was on the end of a branch hanging down and was upside-down, but it looks a lot better when flipped vertically. The problem is that the branch does not look natural because of the leaves pointing straight up, as it was one of those Weeping Willow style trees (Ecalyptus to be precise).

Eyes Left or Right? (1 Viewer)

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