We call them specular highlights in background. By clutter, we mean twigs, leaves, branches, people, architecture, garbage - anything or even too much of bright specs contributed by some object brightly lit. Most of the times, in the excitement of getting a subject to shoot, many completely forget that background forms the major portion of the image and viewers' attention gets totally distracted off the subject if there are clutters in the background. We understand that its difficult to start off alone doing crazy things all of a sudden, and hence in most of DCP Workshops and Photo Tours this is extensively practiced, so that the habit gets imbibed into you.

So learn to be down to earth, it will surely pay you good results. If you are patient and silent, you may be very lucky to shoot something like this. Don't make conspicuous movements and stay calm. As you approach the high tide time, the shore birds will start coming closer and closer to you. Ground yourself to one place and wait for the shoreline birds to come closer. Good place to practice this are the beaches. You have to dirty your clothes to get that beautiful, creamy background. Its only when you are flat on ground, you get infinity as your background and that helps you get images as one shown here. The adjoining diagram will make you understand this easily. Even if you are grounded (say kneeling down), still even 10 degree elevation causes the ground next to the bird to become the background of your image. A cluttered background is the least preferred thing in wildlife photography. It is only when you see the result you realize that it was worth making that stretchy effort. But if you are looking for that classy picture and are ready to be down to earth, then our sincere advise is - always try ground level shot for a ground dwelling bird вЂ¦ in fact we would rather say donвЂ™t ever shoot a ground dwelling bird from any other perspective other than lying flat on ground. It might be mud or grass or thorns or stones. This is one perspective, which new comers get a lot hesitant to practice. They are looking for a ground level perspective. They are the ones who eat the dust for the best of the images that they are looking for. If you are new to wildlife photography, you must have wondered on many occasions seeing some crazy wildlife photographers lying flat on ground trying to shoot a bird feeding on ground. It is literally true in wildlife photography. We keep saying, вЂBeing down to earth gives you good resultsвЂ™. Making a good image is not an over the counter job. It might not have happened - so what ! You need to try again. Fortunately the bird flew into the frame and the desired image was made. However, for this image the photographer positioned himself in such a way where he gets a green background just presuming that one of the many flying birds will fly into the frame. There were many Black winged Stilts flying around a lake, which we visited. This image of a Black winged stilt in flight with was pre planned to be made against a green background. If we dream about a frame first and then wait and look for that opportunity to arrive, we can do wonders. Dont get impulsive and just keep clicking whatever you see. We repeat, we MUST learn when NOT to click. Most new comers make a common mistake of bumping into an opportunity first and then deciding the frame for it. Many may argue on this but we are clear on one fact - you must know WHEN NOT TO CLICK ! Creative photography is all about deciding the frame first even before being in that location and then be there and wait for that opportunity to come. But why did you make an attempt to click an image in that hostile situation at all is our first question. Difficult light condition, difficult position, clutter in the background, less time available, hostile weather.

We come across many defensive statements when we question on sub optimum images that we come across everyday - statements defending 'why it was not possible to click an ideal image considering that situation'.

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