A couple of days ago Bajadreamer shared a picture and asked our opinion about it. In part he said, “Each time I look at it, I wonder, ‘Should I even have kept it?’. In my mind the title is ‘The storm is coming’. These are Cattle Egrets gathering in their roosting tree as the sun is setting and storm clouds are gathering…. What are your thoughts? Keep or pitch?”
The responses were almost universal – keep it. Here are some comments:
– I like the moodiness of this image, it tells a story that these birds are flying around in stormy weather.
– I like the picture even though my eye isn’t drawn to the birds. This is a good weather shot. It’s a cool nature picture with the tree in the middle and the dark clouds. To me the birds are more of accents, but I’d keep it
– It is a gorgeous photo and I would love to hang an enlarged copy of it on my study wall. Does it belong as a great bird pic? – probably not.
One responder put some thought in this last comment. I think it’s a pretty good assessment:
–I am not a photographer or an art critic but I do enjoy looking at the photos that are posted on GreatBirdPics…. The light coming from the right and reflecting off the birds and vegetation captures my eye right away. The lone tree has a strong, wonderful shape and seems to give off feelings of a safe refuge for the birds. Overall the background is threatening and ominous and very dark but that is what makes the light so striking and forces me to look closer to see the detail that is revealed. It looks to me much like it was painted by a painter using brush strokes in an impressionistic style – not a photo at all – especially since details of the birds are not distinct. I don’t think I would pitch it because I would definitely want to look at it again from time to time to see if my thoughts on it would change. But I wouldn’t hang it on the wall to look at all the time either because it is so dark. If anything, I would try to enhance the reflected light on the birds, tree and vegetation to increase that aspect.
Finally, here are my thoughts:
– I like the composition overall. It gives the viewer a lot to look at. With that being said, I would crop it more – some from the bottom and more from the top. This would enlarge the birds so we would get a better look at their activities. Another responder said the shape/proportions of the frame was hard for them to look at and I agree that the non-standard size makes it appear “off”. Perhaps a square crop? As is, I don’t think I would keep it, as tempting as that might be.
Hope that helps, Bajadreamer. Let us know what you decide.
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