Yes I quite like that crop. I might try something very similar.

I'm not going to post a poll this time. Just wondering which version people prefer. Is the 'half bird' at the bottom right of the original version distracting?



Original.

[IMG]http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/bb411/msitaylor/Razorbill1.jpg[/IMG]



Cropped.

[IMG]http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/bb411/msitaylor/Razorbill.jpg[/IMG]

One of the 'No' votes is mine. Unless I'm missing something I had to vote to be able to view the results, even though I posted the poll. Seems like an odd 'feature'.

I like both of these shots, the second in particular is outstanding.

I've noticed you often get really nice warm tones in your colour shots, Smeggy, often in contrast with a kind of stark bleakness. I'm thinking particularly of some of your RAF Upwood shots as well as the two above. I'm not sure that expresses what I mean very well but I can't think of a better way to put it. Do you do anything in particular in PP to get that look?

Yes I like that one too.

I just had a mini-rant about this in another thread. Some of my favourite images have blown highlights in them, I think they can add to the impact of images in the right circumstances. However I've noticed that a lot of photographers seem to loathe almost any hint of them.

The following is one of my own which I personally like, but for the purposes of this poll it's deliberately a fairly extreme case in terms of blown highlights, i.e. it's going about as far as I'd push it and still like the image myself. Also I'm aware that the blown highlights occur in an important area of the main subject, which is a big no-no for many people.

Anyway, I'm interested in how many boarders agree or disagree, so if you have an opinion please vote and feel free to discuss!

I agree, in fact I'd go as far as to say I really don't understand the aversion to blown highlights which seems to be so prevalent these days. I think they can be quite effective for certain images in the right context. Particularly when shooting into the sun, a circumstance in which the naked eye really doesn't perform any better than (for example) the first image above, anyway.

I think they're fine in both of the images above, although in image 2 they cover a slightly larger area than might perhaps be ideal, it in no way makes it a 'bad' image.

Some great shots in this thread!

Thanks for the comments. Having seen a lot of other people's shots from this event from previous years, the great majority of them are taken with flash which seems to just lose some of the atmosphere. Apart from the fact that I don't have a flashgun yet I wanted to try this approach anyway and judging from the comments it has worked pretty well which I'm quite happy about.

I would have got more clean shots using a flash but I don't think they would have stood out as much.

Now with some decent noise reduction software maybe I could take it even further... worth thinking about for next year!

Love #6, #8, #9 and #10.

As for #15, if I was going to pick a nose it wouldn't be that one, but that dude obviously digs it.