Last week I asked, “Which pic is better?” for two shots of the same Red-bellied (not Red-breasted) Woodpecker. The responses were split 50/50! Half of the responses said they liked the first picture because it showed the acorn better and the bird stood out in front of the blue sky. The other half said they like the colorful leaves in the background, which made the picture more interesting.
When I posted the two pics I thought, “Everybody is going to pic the one with the leaves in the background” because pics with interesting backgrounds tend to get more positive comments here. It certainly is a bias of mine, which is why I like the second one better but reading why people like the stark blue background of the first one opened my eyes a bit as to why a messy background can take away from the bird. Thanks to all who responded!
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Interesting, I figured I was the only one!