Spotlight - On Gestalt

'Gestalt' (or 'G.I.S.S.' - 'general impressions of size and shape' - also spelt 'JIZZ') is the name we give to the recognisable 'feel' of an individual species in the wild.  It is a combination of it's structure, how it moves and it's behaviour.  The etymology of G.I.S.S. and JIZZ is interesting as discussed HERE.

As birders gain experience in the field we quickly become aware of the gestalt of common species we encounter regularly.  When a new species appears in a familiar setting, very often it's presence is first signalled by it's gestalt - something unusual about it's size and shape, or the way it feeds or moves about.  Of course a common species with an uncharacteristic behaviour or shape can fool an observer into believing they are watching a different species.  It is also very difficult to describe a bird's gestalt in any objective or measurable way.  Thus this subtle field craft has it's pros and cons, it's strong advocates and those who are more into field marks.  Most experienced birders would tend to use gestalt a lot in forming an initial impression but combine that with topographic field marks to form a solid identification.

It would be wrong to say that gestalt can be properly captured in an individual photograph but video can go a long way to capturing it.  Then again, if a video is merely a collection of photos, surely a flavor of a bird's gestalt is captured in every single photograph or frame of video.  The question is, how do we reliably and consistently draw out from our photographs this 'essence', for want of a better description.

AN OVERVIEW

AN IRISH ETYMOLOGY FOR JIZZ


Structure, Size and Shape

AVIAN ANATOMY

BEAK STRUCTURE AND SHAPE (PART 1)

BEAK STRUCTURE AND SHAPE (PART 2)

SIZE MATTERS

THE LIMITATIONS OF G.I.S.S. (GENERAL IMPRESSIONS OF SIZE AND SHAPE)

MEASUREMENT FROM PHOTOGRAPHS

THE LIMITATIONS OF PRIMARY PROJECTION

THE LIMITATIONS OF BILL TO EYE RATIO

THE LIMITATIONS OF LEG PROPORTION ANALYSIS

SIMPLE 3D MODELLING FROM 2D IMAGES

FEMTO-PHOTOGRAPHY


Tools and Guides

COMPARATIVE PHOTOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS (CPA)

USING COLOUR TO DESCRIBE ANGLES

A GESTALT FIELD GUIDE

RINGER'S (BANDER'S) GUIDES

SIMPLE 3D MODELLING FROM 2D IMAGES

3D MODELLING

THE LIMITATIONS OF CPA AND 3D MODELLING

GESTALT KEYS (AN INTRODUCTION)

GESTALT KEYS (THE PRINCIPLES)

GESTALT KEYS (PRIMARY PROJECTION)

GESTALT KEYS (THE HEAD)

Video

A USEFUL TIP