I took this shot of a Golden-crowned Kinglet in Cape May, NJ. I want the crop to reflect that the bird was tucked into a pocket in the cedar trees. I'm obviously not very happy about the blob of OOF cedar berries in the bottom right corner but I'm not willing or able to clone out that much. All comments welcome and appreciated but I'm especially interested in what people think about my cropping decision. I do have room to pull back some.
Hi Paul. You have a catchlight, and nice detail on the bird. I don't think there is much you can do about the OOF berries. They are not a problem for me, anyway. Pulling back would indicate more of the environment, but since this is a small bird, I like the crop you chose.
Very nice capture of this HARD TO GET little guy, Paul! I am fine with the crop and the oof berries but if your ethics would allow, I would evict the bright oof dried stuff hanging down from the top left edge near the center! My eye jumps right to it! In a perfect world, a better HA would have been over the top with this but it's a fine capture IMO!
I like the frame of leaves you have around the bird and the context it provides. The OOF berries are fine with me also but i agree with Dan regarding the dry brown stuff hanging down top of frame. Nice capture..
Thanks all for the comments. I'll definitely try either removing or dimming the dead vegetation. I don't want to lose my frame but agree that it's a bit too noticeable compared to everything around it.
Like what you are trying to do here but the crop is distracting to me, especially the top edge. Did you run NR on this image, might be my monitor but seems a bit noisy. Colors look correct and beautiful - feather detail is sharp. What was the point of focus, head area looks softer than body. I love the inclusion of habitat - nice moment with nature. Thanks for sharing and keep em coming .
Tucked in Golden-crowned Kinglet
