Turtle Log

[OldSchool]

Hi all,

I shot this a few months back, and am still not content with it. It was late afternoon with the sun diffused by the fog (Stow Lake, SF Golden Gate Park).

I don't have a long lens. So, I had to crop this some... which gives me latitude in the composition/presentation. Right now, I have it centered. But, I find the flotsam above distracting. I could zoom out with the subject top left and have negative space of the white reflection going down right. I could just leave it alone. Any suggestions?

Many thanks in advance,
Tim

[Dzerzhinski46]

Dear Tim,

Alright, here it goes. You obviously know that it needs to be recropped in a different manner. In my opinion I would crop so there is more negative space to the right of the ducks. The ducks are looking in that direction, so more space on the right will be consistent with the geometry of the compostition anyways. An asthetic consideration, very mathematical too. However, that does not take into consideration personal taste. Do what you will. Oh and the ducks are a bit dark, but the light water in the background makes a nice silhouette. Very nice.

Dzerzhinski

[shrapnel]

Hi Tim, I agree with dzerzhinsky that the ducks should be more on the left side of the picture. One thing though that draws my eye all the time is the beautiful large ripple which encompasses the ducks, and whereas it isn't visible at all on the left, it's very well defined on the right so maybe crop it so that the whole of it is visible on the right and your eye will always follow it all the way round and essentially back to the ducks. (but then maybe there is too much shadow on that side?). Nice shot and lovely reflexion off the water .

Hell, what do i know?Make any sense?

Regards

chris

[OldSchool]

I agree with them all. After letting this cool for a while, I was seeing the subject upper left also.

The shot is dark though, and the silhouette was intentional (mainly because the onboard flash couldn't get out there). I could boost the lighting in PP, but the colors are not much. Maybe I'll try a little just to bring out additional detail.

BR,
Tim