Which one and why? Went to Hilton Head Island last week. Visited the Pickney Island National Wildlife Refuge. On the walk in to the Ibis Pond (very few photo ops this time of year), I...

UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

Went to Hilton Head Island last week. Visited the Pickney Island National Wildlife Refuge. On the walk in to the Ibis Pond (very few photo ops this time of year), I came across this scene. #1 is the original, which I like, but I decided to try to improve it by cropping (the curse of many MP). I would appreciate your thoughts on which one is better or, if you are so inclined, feel free to download #1 and show me how you would do it.

Thanks for your time.

Original

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#2
#2...

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#3
#3...

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rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

UTMike wrote:

Went to Hilton Head Island last week. Visited the Pickney Island National Wildlife Refuge. On the walk in to the Ibis Pond (very few photo ops this time of year), I came across this scene. #1 is the original, which I like, but I decided to try to improve it by cropping (the curse of many MP). I would appreciate your thoughts on which one is better or, if you are so inclined, feel free to download #1 and show me how you would do it.

Thanks for your time.

Personally, neither. That reflection on the lower-left draws the eye and you miss the bird, which is what you were trying to concentrate on. Try eliminating the lower third of image #1 and clone out whatever is left of the reflection, or whatever it is.

letmedance Loc: Walnut, Ca.

UTMike wrote:

Went to Hilton Head Island last week. Visited the Pickney Island National Wildlife Refuge. On the walk in to the Ibis Pond (very few photo ops this time of year), I came across this scene. #1 is the original, which I like, but I decided to try to improve it by cropping (the curse of many MP). I would appreciate your thoughts on which one is better or, if you are so inclined, feel free to download #1 and show me how you would do it.

Thanks for your time.

I think the tree reflection on the left is distracting so this is my crop.

(Download)

UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

rgrenaderphoto wrote:

Personally, neither. That reflection on the lower-left draws the eye and you miss the bird, which is what you were trying to concentrate on. Try eliminating the lower third of image #1 and clone out whatever is left of the reflection, or whatever it is.

Thanks, I thought the reflection added, but the comments show it distracts.

UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

letmedance wrote:

I think the tree reflection on the left is distracting so this is my crop.

There is a definite consensus here, thanks.

artBob Loc: Near Chicago

What a fine moment you captured.

However, that purplish growy-thing distracted me. (BTW, speaking of distractions, are those snakes in the water, far right?)

I liked the colors very much, and the way the bird contrasted with the grid-like horizontals. So, I kept the dark forest, bird, and other horizontals.

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Cwilson341 Loc: Central Florida

Wow, I really like this shot. The colors are great and the bird is sharp and clear! I prefer the crops with the foreground growth removed.

UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

artBob wrote:

What a fine moment you captured.

However, that purplish growy-thing distracted me. (BTW, speaking of distractions, are those snakes in the water, far right?)

I liked the colors very much, and the way the bird contrasted with the grid-like horizontals. So, I kept the dark forest, bird, and other horizontals.

Thanks for taking the time, Bob. If there were snakes, I missed them.

UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

Cwilson341 wrote:

Wow, I really like this shot. The colors are great and the bird is sharp and clear! I prefer the crops with the foreground growth removed.

Thanks for the kind words, Carol, the scene got my attention, but I need to learn better ways to present it.

John N Loc: HP14 3QF Stokenchurch, UK

No.1, but I wouldn't crop. The tree reflection needs some attention, maybe by cutting the long part out and leaving the lower section, but I don't think it should be removed all together.

I'm enjoying the solitude in this image and the room for the heron to look into.

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

I prefer the first one simply because of the positioning of the bird.

UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

John N wrote:

No.1, but I wouldn't crop. The tree reflection needs some attention, maybe by cutting the long part out and leaving the lower section, but I don't think it should be removed all together.

I'm enjoying the solitude in this image and the room for the heron to look into.

Thanks for taking the time to comment, John. You put into words what appealed to me about this shot.

UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

jaymatt wrote:

I prefer the first one simply because of the positioning of the bird.

I appreciate you giving this shot some thought and commenting, John.

KTJohnson Loc: Northern Michigan

Nice shot, Mike. Fortunately you had a lot of pixels there to work with.

Here's how I'd do it. Obviously, the bird is your subject, so I would bring it & exploit it.

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UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

KTJohnson wrote:

Nice shot, Mike. Fortunately you had a lot of pixels there to work with.

Here's how I'd do it. Obviously, the bird is your subject, so I would bring it & exploit it.

You do good work, KT.