As you recall from last week Paul Demkovich sent us two views of a Pied-billed Grebe. The first one is a closeup showing the detail in the body. The second one pulls back and includes the bird’s reflection. I asked which one do you like best, and why? I believe more people responded to this post than any previous one – thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts. Here are the two pics with some thoughts submitted by our members:
A) Closeup
Almost half of the respondents liked the closeup picture best. They commented on the detail of the feathers and eye. Others stated why they liked it better than the reflection pic; some said that they liked this one more than the reflection pic because they didn’t think the refection pic had enough going for it (the reflection alone didn’t sell them).
B) Reflection
More people preferred the reflection shot. Some said it was more artistic and liked the composition.
Several people commented on the crop of one or the other. The closeup was thought to be cropped too tight. Others said that the reflection shot should have included more of the ripples in the water (move the bird farther to the right).
Paul the photographer himself had mixed preferences: his family liked the reflection and he liked the closeup (but he liked both, which is why he posted both).
As for me, I like both but lean toward the reflection shot because I see some small flaws in the closeup. In the closeup the eye and head are a little soft (the rest of the body is sharp). I agree with others who said that the crop was too tight in the closeup – the top of the head in particular needs a little bit more space between it and the edge. The reflection shot eliminates both of those issues. I wonder if the “white” reflections on the water in the reflection shot (upper left and left of the body) could be muted by reducing the Highlights element in post-processing. I don’t know if positioning the body further to the right would improve the shot; by doing so it probably would have introduced more of the white reflection on the water. The blue sky reflection is more pleasing than the harsh white reflection.
Thanks so much to Paul for allowing us to compare and critique his two photos. I think our members enjoy this kind of exercise, so here’s an open invitation to all to submit more comparison pics for us to mull over.
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