Which "Redo"

[ginger_55]

From this:

http://upacreekPHOTOGRAPHY.smugmug.com/photos/60871235-L.jpg


The whipping post suggested a crop! So I did two different ones, I need feedback, the rules do not allow for this type of thing, so you good folks, what do you think?

This one?

[QUOTE]http://upacreekPHOTOGRAPHY.smugmug.com/photos/60903029-L.jpg


Or this one?

http://upacreekPHOTOGRAPHY.smugmug.com/photos/60903026-L.jpg


First crop?

Second ?

Thanks for your help here,

ginger

[DJ-S1]

I like the 1st one personally, because this shot is all about the egg, no? It's a wonderful photograph, Ginger! :thumb

[edgework]

From this:

http://upacreekPHOTOGRAPHY.smugmug.com/photos/60871235-L.jpg


The whipping post suggested a crop! So I did two different ones, I need feedback, the rules do not allow for this type of thing, so you good folks, what do you think?

This one?

[QUOTE]http://upacreekPHOTOGRAPHY.smugmug.com/photos/60903029-L.jpg


Or this one?

http://upacreekPHOTOGRAPHY.smugmug.com/photos/60903026-L.jpg


First crop?

Second ?

Thanks for your help here,

ginger

Depends on your intent. The tighter crop makes the point that the image is about the birds. Pulling back offers us no additional information about the setting (it's obvious that they are in a natural habitat in the first crop), but it makes the image more about that setting. In the tight crop the birds are the stars. The second crop puts them in a more supportive role.

[Richard]

First crop?

Second ?

Thanks for your help here,

ginger
Definitely #1. Makes the egg more prominent. Very nice.

[ginger_55]

Thanks, you all, I was leaning the other way to #2, but I think you all are more correct, this shot is about the egg, and the relationship of the parents, of course, to the egg. And I do have other shots that pull back.

Thank you so much,

ginger

[saurora]

This is tough, Ginger, I like them both for different reasons. Number 1 definitely shows off that gorgeous egg and makes it the focal point. Number 2, you can still see the egg, but it adds a little drama to the shot showing the precarious looking environment (slightly tilted nest high in a tree) where two doting parents will rear this future chick. The vulernability just isn't in the first shot. Hmmmmm.....I think I'm leaning.....towards...........(another quick look)...........oh heck, lose the drama and go for #1!!! :thumb

[jfriend]

From this:

The whipping post suggested a crop! So I did two different ones, I need feedback, the rules do not allow for this type of thing, so you good folks, what do you think?


I think Edgework's got it right. It depends upon which story you want to tell. Both crops work, they just tell different stories.

When I was playing with your image, I noticed that because there's near perfect tonal separation between the birds and the background (the birds and egg are pretty much all in the top half of the tonal range and the background is all in the bottom half of the tonal range), you can produce some really neat effects with a curve. For example, you can de-emphasize the background (and consequently, add emphasis to the birds) by just pulling down the left half of a curve. It might be something you want to play with. Here's a slight exaggeration to illustrate:

http://jfriend.smugmug.com/photos/60914892-O.jpg

[ginger_55]

Thanks, John, that is a cool idea and a new one to me. I have other ways, like filters and things, but yours looks less "intense". What I mean is that mine looked like too much.

I have many other photos of the birds, diff birds, same birds, many, that night in the same like/dark range. And some are monochromatic, I often wonder why god made white birds white, the ones not on snow, as they stand out so much and thereby would be more vulnerable, I would think.

ginger