Which Shot Is Better?

Which Shot Is Better?

Sometimes (OK, pretty regularly) I can’t decide which of several shots is the best one.  Sometime’s I’m thankful that eBird limits the number of pictures you submit for a particular species to ten, as it forces me to at least pare it down a little.  I go back and forth between the best shots trying to decide which are the ones I like the most and to keep – you just can’t keep every single shot you like.  And let’s face it, if you have four great shots of a bird and share one of them on GreatBirdPics, Flickr, or Facebook nobody else will probably see the other three.  Let’s take a look at an example.

We were walking along a stream at McClusky Forest Preserve in search of warblers and came upon a male Mallard resting on a rock.  I liked how the eye was peeking just above its wing, keeping an eye on me.  I cropped the image in the first shot to include all of the rock it was perched on which gives more context to the perch and shows more of the stream bubbling behind.  Shot A:

The second shot is a tighter crop so the viewer’s attention is drawn to the bird and its eye in particular.  You still see some of the perch and the stream but just not as much of them. Shot B:

IMO both are pretty good – GreatBirdPics quality.  But which one is better?  A or B?  and Why? Reply to the email or enter your response in the Comments section of the post.  I look forward to reading your responses.

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