Chick in B&W

[JJthethird]

I am posting this pic for critique as I quite like it but I dont know why.




John.

[Saralonde]

This was like a "Where's Waldo?" drawing. That chick is pretty well hidden! There is a lot going on in this shot, perhaps if you crop it down to the lower left corner it will highlight the chick more.

[JJthethird]

Saralonde,
That is what I meant when I said that I didn't know why I liked it, the focal point of the shot was meant to be the chick but I messed the shot up, and when I brought it up on my PC I just kinda liked the contrasts on the leaves etc. But I could try the crop to see how it looks.

Thanks,
John.

[Teewinot]

I agree with Saralonde's suggestion to crop a bit and get the chick more noticeable, but I can't help wondering whether your shot is effective just the way it is....meaning there is a really cool message with this shot: camouflage in nature. And the B&W really enhances it...the eye is strongly drawn to the foliage so when one finally discovers the chick sitting down there, it's kind of a "wow nature is cool" moment (at least for me.). Maybe I'm stretching, but it's the first thing I thought of when I saw it (or didn't see it!). Just thinking of alternative perspectives...

[hitkaiser]

Think the image is decent, a little more contrast to make it less bland could be interesting.

[wijew]

hi JJtheThird,

I see what you mean abt the contrast on the leaves. however, since the chick is the actual subject of the pic i think it would have been better to fill the image with the chick by zooming in on it. maybe getting down low (ground levelin this case) would also improve the shot.

Thanks for sharing.

[JJthethird]

Thank you all for your comments and advice. I tried the crop and also burned in and blurred in an attempt to bring the bird out. Do you think that the shot has been improved?



or this one,



Cheers,
John.

[Teewinot]

I like the first of your 2 new edited versions. It's a better crop, yet it preserves slightly the camouflage effect I think. The second one brings out the distracting branches too much since the the foliage is quite bright. I find it busy.

Nice job!

[JJthethird]

Thanks Teewinot,
Yes, I agree with you. I used the burn tool on the first one to try and play down those highlights.

John.