For me this particular photo shouldn't be cropped. If you take any from the left, the bird will be crowded. From the right side, you'll lose the cool angled reed. Definitely not from the bottom or you'll cut part of the bird's reflection.

The upper left corner has a reed coming from exactly where the edges of the frame intersect. It would be helpful to understand the reasoning behind "don't do it" - such as, does that sometimes cut the image in half? Like a horizon line can, so that you don't know what the focal point is: sky or land? For this particular photo, I find it's a great place to start the eye exploring all the lines and angles. This is a dynamic and appealing portrait of a bird in its natural surroundings.

Other opinions will vary, no doubt

All this negativity about judges, rules, camera clubs, competitions, and all the rest is ridiculous and somewaht childish.

These so-called "rules". guidelines, suggestions. or whatever euphemisms you want to use, are not laws that are enforced and carry penalties- so any of y'all can do whatever you want as to composition, exposure, or anything else.

Seriously folks we are all human beings and not everyone learns and functions the same way, Some peop are gifted with artistic talent and have a built-in, inborn sense of design, placement and therefore composition. Other folks have some talent that needs development the need some basic concepts to refine their technique. There are perfectly good folks who have absolutely no artistic learning but are capable of learning certain concepts by formula, can carry out instructions and produce decent images. And...there are folks who nothing and couldn't give a rat's tail about composition or anything else but nonetheless like to enjoy camera and photography for whatever purpose.

Judges and critics are also human beings, each with their own talents, tastes, prejudices and abilities to teach, encourage, and help others- OR NOT! Some can do all of this positively and articulate their thoughts in such a way, as to positive and negative aspects of any image, and leave the submitter with encouragement and enhanced knowledge, Others, unfortunately, may be good photograhers but when judging ac like frustrated drill instructors- and the is every kind of personality in between. So, if you enter a competition or submit yo work for critique, you need to be prepared for whatever comes your way and be able to separate the wheat from the chaff!

Competition rules are put in place to provide judges and submitters with the judging criteria. Differet clubs, organizations and professional associations have different criteria. If you don't like what organizations stand for or promote- don't go there! If you want to confirm or excel within a particular genre, choose your organization accordingly. If you are a "free spirit" and find a group or competition to traditional, stodgy, or whatever- find a different group! Even within a group in which to be compatible, when it comes to competitions, "if you can't take a punch, don't enter the ring"!

Sadly, there s a lot of "sour grapes". Some folks get a bad reading of their images and blame the judges or the entire concept of judging criteria or "rules". Maybe they were improperly or unfairly judged, MAYBE their submission was generally lousy! Sore losers or bad sportsmanship? Perhaps!

When I first start out as a professional in photography, my first boss and mentor forced me to enter my prints into competitions. Surprisingly enough, a few of my prints made it to the resulting exhibition but the majority were scored poorly. I attended open judging where the panel used prints for "punching bags" but I learned quickly how to improve my work. On the other hand, some of my other mentors, the more experienced shooters athte studio, told me to NOT only "shoot for the judges" but to develop my own style. After a while, you create a balance. My point is if you do photography as a hobby, and/or art for your own satisfaction, there is nobody FORCING you to enter competitions or conform to anything! As a kid, I enjoyed the competitions and always attend the judgings- I considered it free FREE SCHOOL!