Composition: Small Things, Big Difference

Here is a small example, of how small things, can affect your picture in a big way. In the picture above, had the bird not been there, it would have looked half as good as it does now. This picture was taken from my balcony, pretty early in the morning. I was trying to get a photo, where the bird was flying right across the sun, but i waited for quite some time, and the bird just didn't move. Maybe someday i will get lucky ;-").

To get the right exposure, that is to not over expose the sun, and under expose the tree and the bird (the blurred silhouette was intentional) was pretty critical for this photograph, As this photograph, doesn't like most sunrise photos keeps the sun in the center, so i had to ensure by some other way, to keep the sun as the primary focus of the photograph.

Handy Tip:
Choosing a lower ISO setting, and Focusing at infinity, ensured that the bird and tree was slightly out of focus (so that they don't draw much attention and yet fill the frame artistically), and the Sun didn't spoil the neighboring area. (Lower ISO setting)