10MPlayer Loc: California

This a pretty small egret as far as egrets go. I captured this near sundown at the Staten Island Sanctuary, part of the Cosumnes River Preserve about 30 miles south of Sacramento. http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article3657494.html

Your opinion; should I crop closer or leave a more balanced image as it is now, showing the bird in his environment?

(Download)

R.G. Loc: Scotland

If you want "documentary", zoom in. If you want aesthetics and interest, leave it.

10MPlayer Loc: California

Thanks, R.G. That's kind of what I was thinking by not cropping in tight. Just wanted some other opinions. I like the way you see his talons wrapped around the twig.

Shakey Loc: Traveling again to Norway and other places.

If you feel a need to crop, in my subjective opinion, do it from the bottom only. If you like it as is leave it alone. It looks fine on clicking download.

AzPicLady Loc: Behind the camera!

Cropping from the bottom would take off some space that seems redundant to me. That would leave you with the "environment" immediately around the egret. I will say that he does get a bit lost in all that brush, but then that's the nature of them. So, if you want him to stand out more, more severe cropping will be necessary.

Country's Mama Loc: Michigan

I love the light in this image. I do think a slight crop off the bottom getting rid of most of the out of focus grasses would improve the image and still give you plenty of environment.

allanj Loc: New York City

I would crop. In particular, the bushes to left of egret do not add much in my opinion.

Bushpilot Loc: Minnesota

I would prefer to see a 4x5 aspect ratio, by cropping of those out of focus plants in the lower foreground.

photoninja1 Loc: Tampa Florida

There aren't any hard rules for composition, just a lot of guidelines. That's why there's always some clown telling you to do this or try that when they really have nothing substantive to contribute. I totally hate that. But you asked so its your can of worms. The OOF weeds are a bit of a distraction as is the bright splash of water in the upper right. I'd limit both areas. As for balance; it may be over rated. Most high end photographers will create tension and interest in a single subject photo by placing it near one of the "rule" of thirds points or line segments. Not balanced. Take a look at work by Moose Patterson, Joe McNally, Scott Kelby and Lindsay Adler. Just Google them and you'll get some quick examples of their work in diverse areas, and you'll see what I'm talking about. The bird's beak looks lost in the background. You could maybe brighten the edge of it to get better separation. Exposure is pretty good. Lots of photographers blow out the highlights on these bright, white subjects.

10MPlayer Loc: California

I thank all of you for the insightful comments. It seems the consensus opinion is that I should crop the lower 1/3 and I agree. After I posted it I took another look and almost hit the edit button. But then I decided to post it and see what people had to say. I like this shot mainly because the bird was close and didn't require much cropping to see the detail. And it was late afternoon and the light was great.

I'll have to check out those artists photoninja suggested. I'm interested in learning more about composition.