I decided to enter a couple of salons so have been busy taking\choosing a couple of pics.
I am pretty nervous about it (Not at all sure I am doing the right thing) :o and can't make up my mind between these 2 - please help by telling me
1) If you think they are good enough
2) your pick.
Hi Jeni, nice portraits - they look good enough to me :) I actually prefer the first one but with both I would ideally have liked a little more room on the left and a tad below.
At first glance I preferred the first one, but I'm not so knowledgeable on the best HAs, I just find my eye drawn more to the first. Is a salon some sort of competition? Excuse my ignorance.
Although both are very well done, my preference is for the second because of the ha. If you have the room, I would also add a bit to left and bottom and perhaps take a bit off the right. I like adding to bottom so all of the projecting know on perch is included with a bit of room under it. Good Luck, Dave
Jeni, these are both lovely shots. It comes down to a matter of personal preference, but I like the first one better since the second tends to foreshorten that handsome beak a little bit. Keep them both!
Good enough for sure. 1st is my choice. Can you get rid of the merger of that piece of branch coming towards us? Nothing else I would change, and both are great. Perhaps add canvas and then copy some of the main stem down to the bottom. I have done that sort of thing. You just need a timy bit of space here.
Last edited by Ben Egbert; 09-30-2009 at 11:45 AM.
I like both of them very much, both HA works for me. If I have to pick one it would be the second one, because of the more curly feather at the body, looks more dynamic to me. I can see a trace of sharpening, the background noise sundden jump up around the bird, espectually around the beak of the first picture.
Thanks so much - according to the rules, no manipulation is allowed so cloning , adding canvas is out.:(
All I've done is crop, levels , curves, contrast and one round of sharpening at USM 120 - 0.4 - 0.
Thanks Thanaboon - will look at NN on the bg.
Just checked, I'm allowed to dodge and burn so maybe lighten the eye a bit?
Last edited by Jeni Williams; 09-30-2009 at 11:55 AM.
Hi Jeni,
As presented, I choose the second one, because of the head angle and direct eye contact, also the capture angle seems to be a tad lower and looks more natural, more of a relaxed pose...good job...:cool:
I like the first one. It has attitude :). I think the second is too relaxed and lacks some of the character of the first. Plus the gaze on the first one is linked to the space on the right side. This holds the whole frame together. I think the viewer eye contact in the second one actually loosen the control on the right side a little. In any case, excellent job. Congratulations!
#2 or me - Like the HA better and the eye contact is more direct - that said photo competitions are a interesting beast - I started a thread the other day in General Photography Discussion - Asking what are the judges looking for??
From my limited experiences - what we think is important may not be so to the judges on the day.
Jeni, number two for me as well, just for the same reasons as Gus mentioned. Looks like a lower angle of capture and better HA. Very nice image. What is a salon???? Anyways, good luck!
Thank you, really appreciate the feedback.
A salon is a competition normally held by camera clubs affiliated to a National Camera association ( hope I got it right!):)
So far choice looks about evens :D
Lance, I agree, I've only actively belonged to a camera club for about 6 months now and I'm amazed at what gets merits and what is pulled down.
my vote is for the first one. Even though there is direct eye contact in the second, I like the attitude and beak in the first better. Wonderful sharp details! "Wow" is all I could say when I first opened this. How did you get this image?
Please please let us know how the competition turns out.
Cheryl, thank you. I had to enter by the 2nd so entered the 2nd one with better head angle but there is another comp in two weeks and I've decided to enter the first image (which is my personal preference) there.;) I'm just hoping for acceptances at this stage, not expecting any thing more yet!
As far as "getting" the image, I have a couple of perches in my garden, and this BHK spent almost the entire morning in the garden and perching at various stages. Even though it was nearly 1pm I had no problem with light as it was drizzling and overcast.
I got almost 20 shots at the times when the clouds lifted a bit and have attached the original out the camera image just resized and converted to jpeg.:)
Last edited by Jeni Williams; 10-04-2009 at 12:53 AM.
Please help choose
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