Parting ways

[Thorsten]

Cropped this one quite a bit, maybe it would be better to have the snails on the right side? I chose this composition to underline the "departure" aspect.

I also tried to focus the yellow snail, but in the end the blurred snail in the front was too distracting, or do you think both snails should be in focus?

[halfshutter]

At a quick first glance, I thought the snail was heading right and I wasn't sure what was in the background. I did eventually realize which way the snail was going, but not what was in the background until I read your comment.

I like the shiny sliminess of the shot and I wouldn't have noticed that you had to crop it a lot.

If you see him around again, put a salt shaker and him running away from it

[Thinking_Mommy]

Originally Posted by halfshutter

At a quick first glance, I thought the snail was heading right and I wasn't sure what was in the background. I did eventually realize which way the snail was going, but not what was in the background until I read your comment.

I like the shiny sliminess of the shot and I wouldn't have noticed that you had to crop it a lot.

If you see him around again, put a salt shaker and him running away from it

Bahahahahah! Salt shaker idea is AWESOME!

[uvsub]

Man, we don't have snails like that around here! The colourful guy in yellow really jumps out of the image set against the darker surroundings. I agree, the fact the snail is heading out of the frame goes against formal rules of composition, but I like it. It's like your showing the progress of his travel, the fact he's managed to make it that far. Let's face it, it's not like he's about to bolt out of the image anyway.

[uvsub]

Just took another look, and the yellow guy competes too strongly for the center of attention. Could you have taken the shot without him?

[thingy]

I think this is because the yellow one is competing for the same vertical space so the eye tends to bounce up and down between them. Had it been off to the right but still out of focus, the eye could pass over this and settle more easily on the big guy at the front. Had this been the case, your right that it probably would look better flipping it so the big one is on the right hand side.

G

[Thorsten]

Thank you for the replies and advice!

I do have a few more pictures of it:



Next image wasn't cropped in any way, I know that it's not nice the way it is, but I was at a loss on how to improve the composition (didn't want to lose the trail...)



One more - too bad this one is out of focus...

[jiminyClickit]

Thorsten,

Ever a fan of minimal subject matter, the first of these three is my favorite, for the placement too. The other two are equally as well done.

[thekevinmonster]

my 2c:

The title makes me think that you're trying to suggest the two snails are going their separate ways.

Perhaps you could have taken a picture from *behind* the two snails, showing them going off in a y?

That solves two problems:

- It lets you see both snails in focus, since presumably you'd frame the shot so they're the same distance from the camera

- You get to see that the snails really are parting ways, and not just heading for the exit.