Little Blue Heron

**Don Lacy** · 03-11-2011, 11:38 AM

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**Grace Scalzo** · 03-11-2011, 01:33 PM

I agree with you, Don. This light is nice. The foot adds alot of interest. To my taste, you could trim from the top and right, just a bit.

**Arthur Morris** · 03-11-2011, 01:36 PM

Nice bird. Raised foot very nice too. I would be tempted to pull down the curve as the image looks overall on the light side.

Consider a low pano crop as the dark bit of body REFL draws the eye.....

**Duane Noblick** · 03-11-2011, 03:17 PM

I do like the space in this image along with the raised foot. I agree with removing the body reflection at the bottom of the frame.

**Daniel Cadieux** · 03-11-2011, 03:18 PM

I love the water reflection lines on the body. Good pose and the raised foot is nice. I wouldn't mind the bird higher in the frame, either by additional cropping, or by having lowered your camera at time of image capture.

**Don Lacy** · 03-11-2011, 03:45 PM

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**Arthur Morris** · 03-11-2011, 04:14 PM

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**Don Lacy** · 03-11-2011, 05:17 PM

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**Don Lacy** · 03-11-2011, 05:19 PM

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**Katie Rupp** · 03-11-2011, 07:48 PM

I like the raised foot, the intense look and I think my favorite is the pano crop. Thanks for the Golden Means lesson!

**Arthur Morris** · 03-11-2011, 08:55 PM

Don, I went to the Wikipedia link looking for the diagram that you show in Pane 3. Did not find anything similar. I was confused by all the equations.... Artistically the diagram in Pane 3 makes zero sense to me.... It seems to be a design for a centered (aka boring) composition..... And the empty space across the top of the frame does not help at all. And the bird is too large in the frame for the rule of thirds to make any sense either.

Hope that you do not take it personally but only a low pano crop makes any sense to the artistic part of my brain.....

**Tom Redd** · 03-12-2011, 12:19 AM

Don, nice image. For my two cents (and since I am less experienced and knowledgeable, take it for what it is worth), I like the tighter crop off the top. I also tend to like a slightly darker image (a personal preference). Good pose and sharpness. TFS

**Jim Crosswell** · 03-12-2011, 09:28 AM

I like the raised foot, reflection lines and intense hunters stare. Interesting reposts. I like the pano crop and your repost as well. Nice image Don!

**Don Lacy** · 03-12-2011, 12:04 PM

Hope that you do not take it personally but only a low pano crop makes any sense to the artistic part of my brain.....

Nothing personal I like both crops art is a matter of opinion and the golden means is an interesting mathematical equation that is found through out the natural and artistic world.
It has even been discussed here before http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...ine-Proportion
and is the main compositional design used by Leonardo Da Vinci and other artist in their work.
That does not mean it or the rule of thirds will always be the best approach for an image.

**Arthur Morris** · 03-12-2011, 12:40 PM

I agree that art is a matter of opinion. I went to a few more of the links and, though interpretations may vary, I still feel that the one the you illustrated above, the one that they call "Golden Section," makes no sense to me as it puts the subject too close to the middle of the frame. Other examples based on the other Golden whatever it is called do make sense to me.

I would love to see a link to some of DaVinci's stuff that is designed based on the Golden Section that you illustrated in Pane 8. (And BTW, I see no connection at all between the bird in your image and the grid there :))

And I would be the last one to tell you that a single type of image design is generally best for all images so we so agree as far as your last statement.

**Don Lacy** · 03-12-2011, 04:41 PM

I would love to see a link to some of DaVinci's stuff that is designed based on the Golden Section that you illustrated in Pane 8. (And BTW, I see no connection at all between the bird in your image and the grid there :))

Here are some links regarding Da Vinci and the golden means and you are right I should have put the eye the intersection of lines.
http://mathematicianspictures.com/LE...olden_Mean.htm
http://library.thinkquest.org/27890/applications6.html
http://britton.disted.camosun.bc.ca/...bgoldslide.htm

**Arthur Morris** · 03-12-2011, 04:57 PM

Before I look at the links, if you had put the eyes on any of the intersecting points that would have left a ton of boring empty space at the top. I know that you are not open to being convinced on this one but at least I can try :)

**Arthur Morris** · 03-12-2011, 05:01 PM

OK, the first example is a ridiculous stretch. It's a vertical with grid greatly reduced in size. A total no-go for me.

The second shows or proves nothing and has zero to do with your LBH image.

Double that for the third worthless link.

I stand by the pano by 1,000 light years.

**Don Lacy** · 03-12-2011, 05:54 PM

Originally Posted by Arthur Morris

OK, the first example is a ridiculous stretch. It's a vertical with grid greatly reduced in size. A total no-go for me.

The second shows or proves nothing and has zero to do with your LBH image.

Double that for the third worthless link.

I stand by the pano by 1,000 light years.

The links were posted for your request to links regarding Da Vinci use of the golden means or ratio in his art work not in an attempt to validate my original crop which I will concede is not the best choice for this image

The golden ratio is a compositional tool used by some of the greatest artist and architects that mankind has produce and I thought might be of interest to other members who might wish to expand their knowledge in regard to the art of composition, whether or not you find any value to it is of no concern to me.

**Arthur Morris** · 03-12-2011, 06:04 PM

The stuff you sent me to were vertical images that had zero to do with your image. What do I know about composition and image design anyway???

**Don Lacy** · 03-12-2011, 06:25 PM

Artie I always enjoy our discussions more often or not I do learn something

**Arthur Morris** · 03-12-2011, 07:10 PM

Thanks for that Don. We have always had civil discussions in the past and look forward to continuing those :)

**Randy Stout** · 03-14-2011, 07:33 AM

Don:

Sorry to be late to the party

I enjoy art history and classical compositions, but sometimes the 'rules' don't fit every subject.
In this particular image, because of the asymmetry of the bird (not symmetrical in the way that two halfs of a human would be) that the pano crop is the more pleasing composition, and fits the lines of the bird and direction of motion better.

I will sometimes display the rules of thirds grid, but generally go with the cropping and framing of the image to complement that particular subject, or to better tell the story.

The raised foot, sharpness and exposure are good. Like the image, just prefer a pano version!

Cheers

Randy

**James Shadle** · 03-14-2011, 11:56 PM

IMO there is a "Guideline of Thirds" not a rule.
If we dogmatically designed all images according to a specific rule, creativity would go out the window.

When you look at an image, is it balanced, cropped to loose or too tight?
These and many other guidelines are important too.

I'll agree the Guideline of Thirds works on many images, but not all.

James

PS Awesome light and exposure!

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