I took this shot the other day. I have been shooting for about 2 years, but just recently got more serious about it. I'm pretty happy with this shot, but want to see what others think. Any suggestions/comments? Thanks
For me. there are too many competing elements. I would have a look at cropping out the top clouds, and part of the blobby dark bush on right. It would bring the nice tree under the birds away from the centre. As always, if you don't like that, leave well alone.
Ethel @ethelperry is spot on about the competing elements. If you can clone out the clouds this would greatly add to the appeal of the image. If you cannot clone, then crop. Beautiful, just the same, well done!
@ethelperry I would have written the exact critique! Fantastc capture Teresa. Color and the drama of the birds make the silhouettes and refections even more significant. Great capture
A thought - The point of some images is clutter and jumble and "lots of competing pieces." Here's one of mine where that was the point of the shot. http://365project.org/frankhymus/365/2016-10-23 Not to say it's a great image by any means, but it is at least consistent in its many competing elements.
Some images appear to be just the opposite, and I think the basic idea of your lovely golden capture is exactly that. A few large scale elements that seem to hold together across the whole frame, complementing each other and not competing for attention. Except for those clouds as others have suggested that seem to pull the eyes away from the broad scale of the piece, detracting from the underlying "unity," to use a rather hi-falutin' art word. Perhaps cropping out the clouds and reducing some of the black to the right, keeping the same proportions and putting the birds in an even stronger position in the frame would work well. The old-fashioned but still applicable "rule of thirds."
Also a discipline that might help, one pros always do, but can sometimes escape amateur enthusiasts who are concentrating on the subject, when shooting or when deciding how and what to crop, run your eye around the edges of the frame looking for "extraneous" and "distracting" pieces and when you see them, reframe...
Here is my attempt at the edited shot. I wasn't able to crop out all the clouds. That put the birds too high and it didn't look right. But I cropped out some clouds, a lot of trees on the right and a little on the left. I do like it a lot more. Thanks for all the help!
Do try cloning those bright bits of cloud out as film_and_digital suggested, it will make a huge difference, but if you don't like cloning out try a crop again. I masked it with paper and the birds do not look too high in the frame in my humble opinion :)
to be honest i like the unedited version.. its to bland when you cropped out the trees & clouds etc.. and another thing is i personally believe it needs a greater variation of colours.. im not entirely sure how you would do it tho.. that jis my personal opinion:D
Such a beautiful shot, love the colors and composition. I agree clone would work better than crop for the clouds at the top, although, i didn't see them as distracting myself. But if you did then I think clone would be a better tool.
I think that Henri is on the right track with her crop. I agree that the colours are really great and the birds (they look like geese to me) were a good capture.
personally I liked it better at the beginning - I felt like the clouds framed the shot so your eye couldn't wander right out. The cropping isn't keeping the same proportions and I liked the wider look. there's my 2 bits
I'd say either keep the original clouds (I quite liked them in the composition) or cut them completely. The attempt you posted above is trying to have it both ways. Of course, if you cut the clouds you will have to reshape the rest, maybe bringing the borders in tighter. But that could work, too. I'd be interested to see you play with it some more. Oh, yeah, and it is a stunning shot.
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Some images appear to be just the opposite, and I think the basic idea of your lovely golden capture is exactly that. A few large scale elements that seem to hold together across the whole frame, complementing each other and not competing for attention. Except for those clouds as others have suggested that seem to pull the eyes away from the broad scale of the piece, detracting from the underlying "unity," to use a rather hi-falutin' art word. Perhaps cropping out the clouds and reducing some of the black to the right, keeping the same proportions and putting the birds in an even stronger position in the frame would work well. The old-fashioned but still applicable "rule of thirds."
Also a discipline that might help, one pros always do, but can sometimes escape amateur enthusiasts who are concentrating on the subject, when shooting or when deciding how and what to crop, run your eye around the edges of the frame looking for "extraneous" and "distracting" pieces and when you see them, reframe...
Do keep up the good work though.